St. Louis Blues forward Kevin Hayes on Wednesday posted a touching tribute in memory of his brother Jimmy, a former NHL player who died exactly two years ago of an accidental overdose of cocaine and fentanyl. August 23, 2021.
Obviously Kevin Hayes admired his older brother a lot and he wants to keep his memory alive for as long as possible.
“Jimmy had this innate way of making you feel cool,” Hayes recalled in an article for The Players’ Tribune.
Hayes recounts how Jimmy helped him socially during his high school and college days at Boston College, where the two were teammates, and remembers one hugely popular, big-hearted boy. Despite all his success, Jimmy Hayes had always remained a good person.
“He had every reason to be a cocky little shit…and he was just THE MAN,” he wrote, before recounting many anecdotes involving their life as a family as they shared with ten others Friends played Call of Duty, scored goals together at Boston College and their parents were proud of it.
The eldest played 334 games in the NHL before retiring at the end of the 2018-2019 season.
“When Jimmy hung up his skates in 2019, he immediately became my biggest fan,” Hayes explained, adding that after every game he played, the two brothers video chatted about the encounter that had just ended. Jimmy always encouraged his little brother and also gave him perceptive advice.
“I miss those video calls with him more than anything in the world,” Kevin confessed before returning to his death.
“Everyone knows the headlines, you can’t avoid it. “Two years ago my brother died of an accidental overdose of cocaine and fentanyl,” he recalled, before lamenting the true epidemic of opioid addiction that is rampant across the United States.
“It hurts me so much that some days I can hardly take it. It’s just the truth,” the 31-year-old hockey player wrote.
“I lost my best friend to a drug that’s destroying America,” he said.
The text ends with a final tribute to Jimmy Hayes, mentioning his role within his family.
“All his life he was the glue that held everything together.”