Rhode Island high school hockey team wins state championship weeks after deadly rink shooting

A month after three members of Colin Dorgan’s family were killed in a filming at a hockey arena in Pawtucket, Rhode Islandhe helped his team win the state championship.

As Dorgan stood before a deafening crowd exploding with pride for his high school hockey team’s championship victory, secured by a goal in a grueling but exhilarating quadruple overtime, three seats were noticeably empty in Providence Arena.

The high school student’s mother, brother and grandfather should have been there to celebrate one of the most exciting moments of his hockey career, but that opportunity was stolen when all three were killed in a shooting which erupted while Dorgan was playing a game with his teammates at Blackstone Valley Co-op.

The entire team had a red heart on their jerseys with the initials of Dorgan’s loved ones. After the game, he said he could feel their spirit. “I really felt in my heart and soul that they were still with me,” Colin Dorgan said. “I love them so much, and they’re still here and I know it.”

The shooting shook a close-knit hockey community, with many wondering if and how the high school hockey season could continue. Yet in the weeks that followed, Dorgan not only laced up his skates multiple times 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.

The team’s success has garnered national attention, fueled most recently by Dorgan’s game-winning goal in double overtime in a playoff game this month. That set the stage for the title game against Lincoln High School.

“It’s just a game for Lincoln High School and everyone that comes here, but for us who lived through that shooting? This is our life. It’s a tragedy that we all went through and we’re still healing from it,” Blackstone Valley head coach Chris Librizzi said, wiping away tears in an interview before the game.

A raucous crowd in Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence cheered, cried and held their breath through three tense periods before Dorgan tied the score, leading to four agonizing overtime periods. Ultimately, Blackstone Valley’s Jaxon Boyes scored the game-winner.

“I think what happened is just incredible, and I couldn’t have done it without these people by my side,” Dorgan said after the match. “When I came back from vacation, these kids made me feel at home.”

He said at first he was nervous about coming back to talk to his teammates. “These kids really made me feel like one of their brothers, and that really means a lot to me,” Dorgan said.

Librizzi said it was 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 they were a special team,” Librizzi said. “The brotherhood and family concept of this team is why we are here right now.”

Librizzi said the team spent every day together attending workouts and counseling sessions.

“The outpouring of love and support sent to us from all over North America has been nothing short of spectacular and has made a difference,” Librizzi said. “We won this tournament for love.”

Dorgan said his mother was “an amazing, amazing person” and that was part of the reason he came back to the team.

He said his mother instilled in him a mindset of “making do.” “You 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 had been dealing with grief and trauma for weeks.

Police have identified Robert Dorgan as the shooter who killed his ex-wife Rhonda Dorgan and her son Aidan Dorgan on Feb. 16 in the stands at the Pawtucket Ice Rink. Authorities say the shooting was targeted. That of Colin Dorgan grandfather Gérald Dorgan was also shot and later died from his injuries, and two other people were seriously injured.

The chaotic attack was stopped after a handful of bystanders rushed the shooter as the crowd fled. Robert Dorgan, who police said also used the name Roberta and the last name Esposito, ultimately died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.