The York Lions honoured hockey alumnus Mark Cross on Saturday, Jan. 5 at Canlan Ice Sports prior to their evenly matched 4-3 loss to the Brock Badgers in an emotional pre-game ceremony. Cross, who played with the Lions from 2011-16 was an assistant coach with the Humboldt Broncos last season and lost his life in the team's tragic bus crash on April 6, 2018.
 
After symbolically stopping the clock at 18 seconds, the Lions celebrated Cross' life and legacy as a York Lion in a stirring pre-game ceremony that included that included the retiring of Cross' No. 18 jersey. Cross' parents Brad and Marilyn, his brother Michael and sister Leah, his girlfriend Molly, friends from his native Saskatchewan and his former York teammates were all on the ice to take part in the ceremony. Cross became the first member of the Lions men's hockey program to have his number retired.  
 
The Lions wore special edition 'MC18' jerseys for the occasion with the Cross name on the backs of all their sweaters. As part of the pre-game ceremony, current Lion and former Humboldt Bronco Kaleb Dahlgren skated a special edition MC18 puck to centre ice and delivered it to the Cross family for the ceremonial puck drop. Cross coached Dahlgren last year with the Bronco's and was a major reason Dahlgren chose to attend York.
 
"It meant the world to me to be a part of the ceremony honouring Mark tonight," said Dahlgren. "You can really see the impact he left here at York and seeing all the support that was shown with his family and friends and former teammates was really incredible. Taking the warmup and having the MC18 on my chest and the having Mark's name on my back was also amazing and a great way for the team to honour him."


 
The ceremonial faceoff was taken by Lions forwards Reid Jackman and Josh LaFrance who are the two remaining players on the Lions to be teammates with Cross. The capacity crowd at Canlan Ice Sports stood and cheered as the 18 seconds were counted off the clock and as the clock reached zero a banner honouring Cross was unveiled beside the scoreboard where it will permanently reside in the Lions rink at Canlan.
 
"It was incredible," said Cross' father Brad on the pre-game ceremony. "Absolutely incredible. Mark is up there looking down and thinking to himself 'what are you guys doing?' He was so unassuming, that's just the way he was. He never made it about him, I know he's got a goofy grin on his face thinking I can't believe this is happening.
 
The Lions and the York University have treated us extremely well. Both Mark and Molly absolutely loved their time here and the whole ceremony was awesome. Seeing his banner hanging up at York is really special and beyond what we could ever imagine."
 
After the ceremony was completed the game commenced as the Lions, who sit in third place in the OUA West division, were playing a Badgers team who are currently in first place with a game in hand. The Lions came out strong despite an early goal by Brock's Jared Marino at 2:41. Midway through the period, the Lions went on their first power play and capitalized after a shot by Bradley Forrest, who was assisted by LaFrance and Daniel Nikandrov, was deflected into the net.
 
After the equalizing goal, the Lions dominated the rest of the period taking ten shots on net. With three minutes left in the period, the Lions took a 2-1 lead with a goal by defenceman Nick Zottl which was also assisted by LaFrance.
 
The Lions took a two-goal lead on the Badgers late in the second period after Morgan Messenger, with assists from Peter De Coppi and Jeremy Lucchini, came from behind the net and slipped the puck into the bottom right corner. The Badgers netted their second goal of the game at 16:46 off a rebound by Adam Berg. The second period ended with the Lions holding onto their 3-2 lead.
 
The Badgers managed to tie the game less than a minute into the third period with a goal by Connor Brown and took the lead on the Lions after a power play goal by Ayden MacDonald at 11:40. With six minutes remaining, the Lions went on a power play looking to capitalize and tie the game but were unable to find the back of the net.
 
The Lions had one last huge chance to tie the game with just three seconds remaining when defenceman Sal Filice rung a low shot off the inside of the post that had the crowd gasping in disbelief. Despite the tough loss, the Lions played well against one of the top teams in the OUA and responded well after the emotional pre-game ceremony.


 
Following the game, the first-ever viewing of the Mark Cross HumboldtStrong Remembrance Tour documentary was shown in Wild Wing at Canlan Ice Sports with the Cross family and many Lions supporters in attendance. The documentary covered the Lions three-game tour of Saskatchewan, which saw them play three teams from the CanWest conference in Lumsden, Sask., where Cross grew up playing youth hockey, the Bronco's home rink in Humboldt, Sask., and the final game ever at the Saskatchewan Huskies historical Rutherford Rink in Saskatoon, Sask.
 
Cross spent five seasons with the Lions and graduated with a degree in kinesiology and health science in 2016. He was one of the leaders in the dressing room during his time with the team, serving as assistant captain for three seasons and was named team MVP during his fifth and final season. He was the Lions all-time leader in games played after completing his career and still sits second all-time in games played. Following his graduation, Cross returned to his hometown of Strasbourg, Sask., and coached midget hockey in Lumsden for a year before being named an assistant coach with the Broncos for the 2017-18 season.
 
In His Teammates Words
 
Corey Scott (2012-16)
"The ceremony tonight just goes to show how good of teammate Mark was. He touched so many people and you can see that by the turnout and the production that went into the pre-game ceremony. You can't say this would happen to every guy who played here, it's a testament to him and a testament to what he put into the program."
 
Louis-Joseph Sawyer (2014-17)
"The ceremony was great and with the turnout of everyone who came tonight it shows what a great person Mark was. He demonstrated leadership in all parts of his life and you can see how much he was appreciated by everybody in his life here tonight."
 
Connor Hale (2014-17)
"I think it's great that we retired the number 18 because there will never be another person like Mark. He was a great leader without even trying and he made it easy to come to the rink every day. He was always smiling and upbeat and happy but was a real competitor on the ice too, everybody fed off him and tonight was great way to honour him."