Names on skates remind Rangers' Hayes of tragedy, luck
Take a close look at Kevin Hayes' skates the next time the Rangers forward steps on the ice. It might be possible to see two faded names scrawled on the skates: Corey Griffin on the right skate and Martin Richard on the left. Hayes also has both initials stitched into his gloves.
According to a recent story by ESPN, Hayes carries the memory of both Griffin and Richard with him every time he steps foot on the ice as a way to give himself perspective and pay tribute to two lives cut way too short. So who are Richard and Griffin?
Martin Richard was one of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. He was just eight years old when he died, and he also hailed from the close-knit Dorchester, Mass. community Hayes grew up in. Hayes told ESPN that he did not know young Martin personally, but his mother did since Martin attended the daycare where she works. Hayes was still a student at Boston College at the time of the bombings.
"Obviously, you don’t want that to happen to anyone," Hayes said to ESPN of the bombings. "It happens, and you go about your day, then you find out what happened in the next couple of days that it’s your neighbor, a young kid that loves sports. It’s a tragedy. It’s good for the family to know -- it’s never over with -- but to know [the trial] is done."
Then there is Corey Griffin, the co-founder of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge with ties to BC who died last summer in a diving accident on Nantucket. Griffin was 27 years old.
Hayes told ESPN that keeping the memories of both Griffin and Richard close gives him some much-needed perspective during a tight playoff race.
"It’s something that reminds me every time I put my skates on how lucky I am. I don’t take this for granted,” he told ESPN. “No one deserves that. I know how lucky I am, and just to pay any tribute to them is a little thing I can do. It’s just a nice reminder that the life I’m living right now is special."
(h/t ESPN)
Photo credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
