Rhode Island hockey team rallies to championship after ice rink shooting

Colin Dorgan has helped lead his high school hockey team into a championship game after losing his mother, brother, and grandfather last month in a shooting at an ice rink

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- When Colin Dorgan takes the ice Wednesday to compete in the Rhode Island Division 2 boys' state championship, three seats will be noticeably empty in the crowded arena.

The high school senior's mother, brother and grandfather should be 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 has not only repeatedly laced up his skates as team captain but performed so well that his team is now in the championship.

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 final 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 Co-op head coach Chris Librizzi said, wiping away tears during an interview.