Blue Bombers remembered for bringing 'a little light' during Manitoba's darkest days

The championship game may have been almost two years ago, but it's a day the province is immortalizing forever.

In a ceremony at IG Field, the Province of Manitoba awarded the Winnipeg Blue Bomber's 2019 Grey Cup championship team with a special award: The Order of the Buffalo Hunt.

"You are truly champions on and off the field," Premier Kelvin Goertzen says Tuesday afternoon, IG Field behind him.

A Bombers fan himself, the premier happily awarded the team while wearing a Winnipeg Blue Bombers jersey.

"The 2019 Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers will be the stuff of history and legend in Manitoba for many years," Goertzen says. Part of that is because the team itself was very very special with the season that was unpredictable and part of it is because it brought to this city a joy and a championship that it hadn't experience for far too long."

The premier says the championship will forever be one of his family's favourite memories after they watched in person, as well as many other Manitobans watching at home or from afar. 

"While nobody knew it at the time, the memories of the 107th Grey Cup would have to take us through an unprecedented year of challenge and difficulty."

He says the game brought "a little light" into the dark days for many people over the past year.

"It offered hope and joyful memories in a time some lacked both. it was a long journey from that Grey Cup in Calgary to where we are today," he says, noting the work needed to return fans to the stands in 2021.

After signing the order, CEO Wade Miller addressed attendees, thanking the province for their support.

"This is an honour that we wanted to do a year ago but I am glad we are doing it today," Miller says.

Players invested in the order include Andrew Harris, Willie Jefferson, Brady Oliveira, and 67 others. Chaplain Lorne Korol, Head Coach Mike O'Shea and other instrumental people are also named in the order.