A Tampa Bay man’s effort to commemorate the Humboldt Broncos stopped in Estevan on April 22 during game six of the SJHL finals. That effort came in the form of a simple jersey with a powerful message.

The military-themed Tampa Bay Lightning jersey adorned with the number 16 and the name bar reading “Humboldt” has become somewhat famous on social media as Dan Gitzler attempts to send it everywhere Tampa Bay travels on their playoff run.

“I wanted a way to show the support from the hockey community for the hockey community,” Gitzler said in an interview from Tampa Bay. “I wanted to do it from Florida.”

Gitzler’s jersey had made the rounds not only in the NHL playoffs from Tampa Bay to New Jersey but to Nipawin and now Estevan as well.

A jersey was an easy choice for a tribute as far as Gitzler was concerned.

“The hockey jersey is probably the most recognizable piece of gear, besides the stick, that a hockey player wears,” he said.

And the number 16? Well, that was an obvious choice as well, and had multiple meanings, some apparent, others underlying.

“The number 16 was to represent the lost souls from the accident,” he explained, “even though there are so many more people affected than just those 16. I wanted the jersey to have the number 16 to represent those people. It also happens that in the NHL there are 16 teams in the playoffs and the team that wins the Stanley Cup needs 16 victories to clinch the cup.”

The jersey now bears signatures from the Estevan Bruins, Nipawin Hawks, Tampa Bay Lightning, and New Jersey Devils.

Gitzler pointed out that the SJHL was very cooperative in getting the jersey to Estevan. He expected its arrival to have some weight not only with the fans but also for him personally.

“It’ll be very emotional,” Gitzler said, “just knowing that the people most affected by the tragedy will be able to see the jersey and take pictures with it while it’s there. It makes the effort worth that much more. When they see it on someone’s Twitter account it may not have the same meaning, but when it shows up in their arena and their community, it will be very emotional.”

The jersey now bears signatures from the Estevan Bruins, Nipawin Hawks, Tampa Bay Lightning, and New Jersey Devils. Gitzler hopes to get every team the Lightning play from here on to sign it, for a special presentation at the end of the playoffs.

“At the end of the journey, when the jersey is given to the Humboldt Broncos, the players from these two teams will be part of that history. And that’s really what hockey is about.”

Tampa Bay’s next round opponent is yet to be determined between Boston and Toronto as of this writing.