Photo Credit: Jordan Hall
Kevin Hayes and his family have endured so much these past few weeks. After funeral services about a month ago of his late brother Jimmy. Kevin just gave the most tearful interview since I have been writing for the past seven years,
“Jimmy was a special person. He really enjoyed life, and helped others.”– Kevin Hayes
“I’ve been trying to get home as much as possible,” Hayes said. “See my three sisters, my parents, my friends, Jimmy’s wife, Kristen and the kids, and her family. Up until this happened, I was going home every Friday. It’s been nice to be back. My family is really well known in Boston, especially where we live. My brother and I are role models in our community. Our family is very well-known. My family gives back a lot to the community, so it was tough being there. It was awkward not knowing how to act. I couldn’t get coffee without someone coming up, awkwardly holding the door for me, or wanting to buy me coffee. It just got repetitive. No one really knows how to handle what happened. There’s no playbook on how to handle death. It was really nice to get back here and get into the routine. I think we’re going really well here. Coming to the rink, work out, skate. Be with the guys, go to dinner with the guys. I felt amazing to have the guys and to have this happen. I asked AV if I could be around the team as well and help out as much as I can. Do my rehab when they’re on the ice, so when they’re finishing, I’m finishing. When they’re in the gym, I could hang out. Being around made things a lot easier for me.”
Hayes continued, “The hockey world is an impressive community. It’s been crazy with the amount of people that have reached out to myself and my family. The amount of people who showed up to the services was incredible. Some people that were very close with my brother, who I didn’t even know that are in the hockey world, reached out and sent flowers to my family. There’s definitely some people I would like to thank: Chuck and AV have been tremendous through all this. They sent a team bus up to the services and it was incredible to see the support from them. Brian Burke, who’s with the Penguins right now, basically reached out every day to check how I’m doing. He, unfortunately, lost his son, so he’s been helping me through a lot of stuff. Just seeing people like P.K. Subban, Patrick Maroon, Ryan McDonaugh, Shattenkirk. G was up there. Brauner, Joel, Keith Yandle, Chris Wagner. Just a lot of people. People I didn’t know reached out like Sidney Crosby and Landeskog. It’s been incredible, the support. It shows when we’re on the ice. It is truly a battle. We want to win every game, but the hockey community is a really special community. It goes much further than playing against each other on the ice. I was totally taken back with the support I received. There are some people, to this day, that check in.”
Everyone grieves differently, so being around people might be the best way to move on at the moment, especially given his unfortunate situation with his injury. He wanted to thank everyone for all their support throughout the hockey community. Hayes said that this was a moment he wasn’t looking forward to.
We are all here for Kevin and his family. This is such a sad story, but Kevin has handled it like a trooper. He has always been a class act, so we will be here for him and his family when they need us the most. He has dedicated this season to his late brother Jimmy, so maybe the entire team will to at some point.
