The Jimmy Hayes Column

Shank devotes a column to a local hockey player who unfortunately is no longer with us:

Fentanyl contributed to Jimmy Hayes’s death. His family hopes telling his story can help prevent another

Former Bruins winger and Dorchester native Jimmy Hayes, who was found dead in his Milton home Aug. 23, died with fentanyl and cocaine in his system, his wife and father revealed Sunday.

It’s the news some feared when the wildly popular pillar of the community died after celebrating his son’s second birthday with his wife, Kristen, and infant son on a perfect Sunday seven weeks ago.

Hayes’s sudden death made no sense in the moment. The 6-foot-5-inch, 31-year-old ex-athlete presented as a healthy, happy young man, blossoming into a full life of parenting, podcasting, and doing good deeds for others. Jimmy Hayes had a beautiful wife and two adorable boys. His parents, sisters, brothers, and cousins were all around him. He had it all.