Kevin Hayes playing this season in tribute to his late brother Jimmy

Philadelphia Flyers forward Kevin Hayes has had quite the offseason and not in a good way.

First on August 23, his older brother Jimmy died suddenly and unexpectedly. Kevin lost his best friend, and since then, Hayes has been anxious about the public conversation that was doomed to happen. At the same time, he knew it would be an opportunity to share great memories about his brother and give thanks to the people who reached out to him.

«He was a special person,» Hayes said. «He really enjoyed life and really enjoyed helping others. It sucks that he's gone and it happened way too fast. I'll never forget him, obviously.»

Hayes plans to play the 2021-22 season in honor of his brother. Although, his start to the season will come later as he is recovering from abdominal surgery and will miss roughly 10 games.

#Flyers center Kevin Hayes talks about playing the season for his late brother, Jimmy. pic.twitter.com/k98pjHTdNP— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) September 24, 2021

«It's going to be weird stepping on the ice for the first time, knowing that my brother's not there,» Hayes said. «He honestly was my biggest supporter. If I had a bad year, it was AV's fault. If I wasn't playing a lot of minutes, he wanted to talk to AV, he wanted to talk to Chuck.»

Hayes wants to use his brother's memory to power through any difficult times, as Jimmy was one of the main people he leaned on.

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