Colby Cave.
About 15 kilometers of vehicles lined Highway 16 just outside North Battleford on Monday afternoon, to show support for the late Colby Cave and his family, who were returning home to their farm just outside Battleford.
The 25-year-old Edmonton Oilers forward died in a Toronto hospital Saturday morning from complications surrounding a brain bleed.
Martin Smith, Cave’s former Coach with the Midget “AAA” Battlefords Stars, spoke with Mitchell Blair on the Sportscage, and said it was truly something special to be a part of.
“One of the local print shops made Colby Cave signs, they were driving in side-by-sides up and down the road handing them out to everybody,” Smith said. “It was a procession that I’ve never seen in my life and I will never see again in my lifetime, I am pretty confident in that, it was an unbelievable sight,” he said.
Police and fire also escorted the family home, who could be seen waving to the gathering as they went by.
Thank you to all the amazing people who are honouring #Oilers forward Colby Cave, whether it be earlier today by welcoming his family back to Saskatchewan, or with the ever-growing memorial outside @RogersPlace. https://t.co/sFGkQD2QER
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) April 14, 2020
Smith said the tribute started small but quickly grew into what it became.
“It started with one of Colby’s dad’s friends and a rec hockey teammate that said let’s get our team together and wave to them along the highway as they come home just to show support, and obviously it took off from there.”
Before the NHL, Cave was captain for the Swift Current Broncos for two of his four seasons with the team.
He wasn’t drafted, but his Saskatchewan type grit and work ethic caught the eye of the Boston Bruins.
Cave would bounce back and forth between the AHL and NHL, playing 67 games split between the Bruins and Edmonton Oilers.
He scored his final goal in Pittsburgh this past November, one that made highlight reels for weeks to follow.
Smith said while Cave wasn’t a superstar, he meant a lot to many in the Battlefords and area.
“He’s been labeled as a fringe NHL player, or a role type player, but as a person he was a superstar,” Smith said. “To everybody around the Battlefords he was a role model and he relished that.”
“Everything you hear and read about him is absolutely bang on, I’ve never heard a bad thing said about Colby Cave and I know I never will,” said Smith.
