Boston Bruins

High school hockey team gives touching tribute to fallen teammates

Published Jan. 5, 2017 11:36 a.m. ET

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Pete Blackburn

Just a few days before Christmas, tragedy struck the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts and its high school hockey team. Two players -- James Lavin and Owen Higgins -- died in a car accident after the vehicle they were leaving practice in went off the road and crashed into a tree.

Lavin and Higgins were not only teammates on the ice, but also best friends off of it. Both 17-year-olds were senior standout athletes, with Higgins having just been named captain of the hockey team. The Clippers' coach said that the boys were essentially "“connected at the hip.”

As you would imagine, the tragedy shook Falmouth to its core and left the town devastated. But the amount of support that its people -- and locals outside town lines -- have shown to those affected has been staggering.

According to The Boston Globe, over 180 boys’ and girls’ high school hockey programs paid tribute to the Lavin and Higgins by hanging their jerseys behind the bench. The Boston Bruins did the same.

https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/815273974137585664

On Wednesday night, the Clippers played their first home game since the accident. There wasn't an empty seat in the house and, to be expected, it was a very emotional night for everyone in attendance. Before the game, the crowd roared while the team took a skate around the ice with the jerseys of Lavin and Higgins.

https://twitter.com/AtwaterWCVB/status/816801200146411520

Then, the jerseys took their designated spots behind the bench, where they remained throughout the entirety of the Clippers' 5-0 win.

Teammates also took time to embrace the ribbon logo painted on the Falmouth ice to remember the young men.

From the tributes to the final score, it was a fitting way to honor the young men who were tragically taken way too soon. As Thursday's front cover of the Boston Herald states, the memory of the boys will live on in Falmouth.

https://twitter.com/BHsciacca/status/816864891550179328

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