Photo Credit: Zack Hill
it wasn’t the easiest day/night for Kevin Hayes and his family. He returned back to his hometown in Boston, and he took his nephew Beau, his late brother Jimmy Hayes’s son, for a pre-game skate earlier in the day. Kevin Hayes believed it was his first practice skate:
As one can imagine this wasn’t the easiest game for him to play, but he did make some nice passes to Zack MacEwen, who was snake bitten by the goal post, or Hayes would have ended with a multi-point game in his reunion of sorts back in Boston.
“It was emotional during warm-ups. It’s awesome coming back here and getting in front of your family and friends. A little emotional.” – Kevin Hayes
Kevin Hayes says he’s appreciative of the Boston Bruins and the community all the support they have given him and his family. He said everything they have done has not gone unnoticed. Moreover, Hayes says he’s appreciative of all the support from the players for all they have done for him and his family, and he specifically thanked Cam Atkinson, JvR, and Keith Yandle.
It’s the little things that he appears to appreciate, for instance, before last night’s presser with the media Hayes and Atkinson both sat down next to each other in front of the mic. Hayes looked over at Atkinson before the presser began and said “Hey brother”, while Cam looked over at Hayes and moved his hand towards him and said “Hey brother,“ then the press conference began. Cam knew that this was going to be one of the toughest/emotional pressers in Hayes’s life, and the Flyers knew that too so they paired Hayes with a good friend in Atkinson which was nothing but class from them. It appeared to give Hayes support and a sense of calmness to complete the press conference.
All in all, Hayes can now put this night behind him, and try to move on as best as possible. Thankfully he has some good friends and family to lean on for support, I can only imagine the amount of pain he suffers on a daily basis.
Flyers Notes:
Keith Yandle recorded a pair of assists last night against the Bruins. It was his fourth multi-assist game as a Flyer and 90th multi-assist game of his NHL career.
Cam Atkinson scored his team-leading 15th goal of the year and extended his point streak to five games. He also added an assist and has eight points (3g,5a) during his streak.
