The Boston Bruins had a few more skaters on the ice than normal during their practice Monday. The organization hosted the Rhode Island Division II State Champion hockey team, the Blackstone Valley Co-op, at Warrior Ice Arena, giving them the once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet their favorite players and experience the Bruins practice facility.
The team had just won their high school state championship on Wednesday with a late goal to tie the game in regulation and win in not just one overtime, but quadruple.
The win was especially significant for the team as it followed just one month after their Senior Day game took a tragic turn, when one player’s father shot and killed several family members including himself.
“It’s amazing how the community can rally for us, all the gifts we’ve gotten, it’s so special,” team co-captain Camden Governo said Monday. “We’re so grateful for everything we’ve gotten. There’s nothing better than the community we have. We’re still moving forward. We’re still recovering. But we’re definitely doing good after that championship win.”
The team wore patches on their jerseys during Wednesday’s game. A red heart with the initials of each family member killed during the tragedy.
The Blackstone Valley team is still celebrating their victory on the ice, this time, surrounded by support from the Bruins.
“The hockey world is such a tight-knit community, it’s a family. Whenever we get an opportunity like this, we really cherish it,” said Jeremy Swayman in an interview with NBC 10 Boston. “It’s so cool to have these guys in the locker room, and to see their excitement and really enjoy the good things that hockey brings us every day.”
This is not the first time the NHL community has rallied around hockey teams across the country when faced with tragedy. In 2018, NHL teams showed support for the Humboldt Broncos, a Canadian junior hockey team that was involved in a bus crash that left 15 people dead and 14 injured.
Coaches and players from the NHL expressed their support for the Broncos with the Toronto Maple Leafs adding the Broncos logo to their backdrop during their morning press briefing the next day. The Philadelphia Flyers held a moment of silence prior to their game against the New York Rangers just days after the tragedy.
Prior to leaving the ice, the Blackstone Valley team and the Bruins posed for a photo to remember this special day where players of different stages of life came to celebrate their love for hockey.
“Just a sad story, but also a wonderful story, the way they responded and winning,” Swayman said. “Just to have them here, they were so excited to see David in the training room, maybe get a massage, just little things like that…. That was probably the best moment today.”
“This is what I love about hockey, about hockey teams, because we’re all the same,” Swayman said.