Netflix is developing an eight-episode dramatic series set in the fictional town of South Dorothy, Minnesota, a working-class community where hockey plays a central role in local life.
The story begins after a devastating bus crash wipes out a high school hockey team, killing several players and their coach.
In the aftermath, the town turns to the coach’s widow, asking her to step in and lead a new team made up of young players deeply affected by the tragedy. The series stars Michelle Monaghan and is produced by 21 Laps, the company founded by Shawn Levy, known for major productions such as Stranger Things, All the Light We Cannot See and The Adam Project. No official title or release date has been announced so far.
Netflix maintains that the project is a work of fiction and not based on any real event. Writer and producer Nick Naveda has described the series as a “dream come true.” While the show is not being marketed as a Netflix original, it has been acquired by the platform for international distribution. Despite these clarifications, the storyline and its themes quickly sparked attention — and controversy.
Does the story sound familiar? For many Canadian families, the parallels with the 2018 Humboldt Broncos tragedy are hard to overlook. That year, a truck driven by Jaskirat Singh Sidhu ran a stop sign and collided with a junior hockey team’s bus in Saskatchewan, killing 16 people and injuring 13 others. Sidhu was sentenced to eight years in prison for dangerous driving and has since received a deportation order from Canada. Although the Netflix series is set in the United States and framed as fictional, some believe the narrative closely mirrors a tragedy that remains deeply real.
Families connected to Humboldt say they feel the series draws too heavily on their lived experience. Michelle Straschnitzki, whose son Ryan was severely injured and left paralyzed in the crash, argues that the show dramatizes a trauma that is still very much present. She also questions the claim that the story is purely fictional, given the global impact of the Humboldt disaster. Other relatives have described feeling shaken by the project’s announcement. One father of a victim said learning about the series felt like a punch to the gut, instantly reopening wounds for both his family and the broader community.
For these families, the issue goes beyond narrative similarities. It raises questions of respect, memory and who has the right to tell such stories. Several believe that if a subject this sensitive were to be explored, it should have involved those directly affected — or at least their consent. Some have already said they have no intention of watching the series, explaining that the tragedy remains part of their daily reality and has never truly faded.
