A month after three of Colin Dorgan’s family members were killed in a shooting at a Pawtucket, Rhode Island, hockey arenahe helped his team win the state championship.
As Dorgan stood before a deafening crowd exploding in pride for his high school hockey team’s championship win, secured by a goal in an exhausting yet exhilarating quadruple overtime, three seats were noticeably empty in the Providence arena.
The high school senior’s mother, brother and grandfather should have been there to celebrate one of the most exciting moments in his hockey career, but that opportunity was robbed when all three were killed in a shooting that erupted while Dorgan was playing a game with his Blackstone Valley Co-op teammates.
The shooting rattled a close-knit hockey community, with many wondering whether and how the high school hockey season could continue. Yet in the weeks since, Dorgan not only repeatedly laced up his skates as team captain but performed so well that he helped propel his team to the Division 2 boys’ state championship, where they won Wednesday 3-2.
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The team’s success has sparked national attention, fueled most recently by Dorgan scoring the game-winning goal in double overtime in a playoff game this month. That paved the way for the title match against Lincoln High School.
“It’s just a game for Lincoln High School and for everybody that’s coming here, but for us who lived through that shooting? It’s our lives. It’s a tragedy we all went through and are still healing from it,” Blackstone Valley head coach Chris Librizzi said, wiping away tears during an interview ahead of the game.
A rowdy crowd in the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence applauded, cried and held their breath for three tense periods before Dorgan tied the score, leading to four nerve-wracking overtime periods. Finally, Blackstone Valley’s Jaxon Boyes netted the winning goal.
“I think that it’s nothing short of absolutely amazing what happened, and I couldn’t have done it without these people next to me,” Dorgan said after the game. “When I came back from the break, these kids made me feel right at home.”
He said at first, he was nervous to go back and talk to his teammates. “These kids, they made me feel like really one of their brothers, and it truly means a lot to me,” Dorgan said.
Librizzi said it has been an emotional four weeks for his team, and when Colin decided to come back, it gave them a spark.
“I told them before the season started that this was a special team,” Librizzi said. “The brotherhood, the family concept that this team had is the reason why we are here right now.”
Librizzi said the team spent every single day together going to workouts and counseling sessions.
“The outpouring of love and support that was sent our way from all over North America has just been nothing short of spectacular and it made the difference,” Librizzi said. “We won this tournament because of love.”
Dorgan said his mother was “an amazing, incredible person,” and was part of the reason he returned to the team.
He said his mom instilled in him a “grind it out” mindset. “Just go to practice, go to work and great things happen, which obviously happened today and throughout the playoffs,” Dorgan said.
The ending was a much-needed catharsis for a team that has grappled with grief and trauma for weeks.
Police have identified Robert Dorgan as the shooter who killed ex-wife Rhonda Dorgan and son Aidan Dorgan on Feb. 16 in the stands of the ice rink in Pawtucket. Authorities say the shooting was targeted. Colin Dorgan’s grandfather Gerald Dorgan was also shot and later died from his wounds, and two others were severely injured.
The chaotic attack was stopped after a handful of bystanders rushed the shooter as the crowd fled. Robert Dorgan, who police say also used the name Roberta and the last name Esposito, ultimately died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.