“There’s no real playbook on how to handle these situations,” admitted Kevin Hayes before his first game of the 2021-22 NHL season in Dallas on Saturday.
Hayes returned to the Philadelphia Flyers’ lineup following a pair of offseason abdominal surgeries. He also continues to grieve the loss of his brother, Jimmy, who passed away unexpectedly in August.
“This is probably the first game in my NHL career where I won’t be able to text my brother after the game and kind of talk about it and joke about it and and chat with him,” he said. “I don’t really know all the emotions I’m gonna have when I go out there and honestly, I’m hoping it’s nothing major.
“I hope I can just help the team win.”
Flyers Fall Short In Dallas
On the second game of a back-to-back, against a desperate Dallas Stars team that was looking for its first regulation win of the season, Hayes centered a line with Cam Atkinson and Joel Farabee. He tallied one assist and three shots on goal, but the Flyers fell by a score of 5-2.
“I felt pretty good with the puck,” Hayes said. “Mentally, I’ve got to get my jump back and get into, kind of, hockey shape and game shape.”
The Flyers started Saturday’s game with outstanding energy, outshooting the Stars 19-7 in the opening frame.
“Their goalie made a ton of saves early on, a couple that we thought went in from the bench,” Hayes said. “We came out flying, especially after the back-to-back. That’s what we were harping on, having a good start. And that’s what we did, getting pucks deep and making their (defensemen) turn.”
But Anton Khudobin was sharp in net, stopping 31 of 33 shots in the game and earning First Star honors in his third win of the season. Dallas opened the scoring midway through the first period, when a sprawling Luke Glendening batted the puck past Martin Jones. With a stronger effort in the middle frame, Dallas built a 3-1 lead. In the third, the teams exchanged power-play markers before Radek Faksa finished off the scoring with an empty-net goal.
James van Riemsdyk and Ivan Provorov scored for the Flyers, who outshot the Stars 33-31. Jones recorded his first loss in the Philadelphia net, with his record dropping to 3-1.
Introducing ‘The 11 Fund’
In addition to getting ready to return to the lineup, Hayes also spent time last week reaching out to teams around the league, asking for their support. The Hayes family has chosen to honor Jimmy’s legacy by launching ‘The 11 Fund,’ a scholarship fund that will provide tuition assistance for underprivileged children at Saint John Paul School in Dorchester, Massachusetts — where Kevin, Jimmy and their three sisters all studied as children.
“Jimmy’s sole purpose in life was to make those around him feel important and happy, and he did that daily and effortlessly,” said Kevin in a statement announcing the fund’s launch. “He also jumped at the opportunity to help others in need, especially children. So, we figured there would be no better way to carry Jim’s legacy on than in our home town and by helping children.”
The fund launched with Kevin’s request that teams around the league donate their ‘money on the board’ during games played between 11/11 and 11/13. Normally, ‘money on the board’ represents an extra personal commitment by individual players before big games, or games that hold particular significance. In this case, funds were pledged to The 11 Fund, win or lose.
NHL Players Step Up
“I sent out a group text to one player on every team,” Hayes explained about how the campaign came together. “Within the hour, every single team responded and said that they’re in — win or lose, money on the board is still going towards the fund.
“It’s been crazy — way more money raised than I ever imagined. Just to see guys — some guys I don’t even know, I had to text other people to get their numbers. Having them respond and saying how good of an idea it was, without a doubt we’re in, anything else they can do. It’s a cool league — it really is.”
Kevin Shattenkirk, a Boston University alumnus like both Hayes brothers and a former teammate of Kevin’s on the New York Rangers, got things started with the Anaheim Ducks.
The Flyers followed suit on Friday in Raleigh, with Kevin leading the way.
“A lot of fans don’t really understand the brotherhood of this of this league,” said Hayes. “It’s shown the last couple months — starting in August and till now, and sure to go on for a long time. It’s really cool to know the support I’ve had from some of the NHL players.”
Following the weekend road split, Hayes and the Flyers return to Wells Fargo Center for a tough three-game homestand this week. They’ll host the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday and the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
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