The Humboldt Broncos hockey team, changed forever after a highway crash in April, has been chosen as Canada's Newsmaker of the Year in 2018.
The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team received 56 out of 129 votes from news editors surveyed by The Canadian Press across the country.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, who went head to head with the Trump administration during NAFTA negotiations, ranked second with 33 votes.
Ontario's new premier, Doug Ford, came in third with 12 votes.
The Broncos crash, just edging out pot legalization, was also selected by editors as the most compelling news story of 2018.
Dawn Walton, managing editor of CTV Calgary, says no other story brought the country together as this.
She said ``while not an individual newsmaker, as a team, the Humboldt Broncos defined what it means to be Canadian.''
Sixteen players and staff were killed and 13 players were hurt when the team's bus and a semi-truck crashed at a rural intersection April 6th.
The team was heading to a playoff game and many parents who were driving to Nipawin, Sask., for a matchup with the Hawks came across the devastating scene.
There was shock and heartache as news of the crash spread around the world.
Many placed hockey sticks on their front porches as a visible sign of their grief.
Many also gave money.
People from more than 80 countries donated over 15-million dollars to a GoFundMe campaign.