'It is like time stops': New tradition forged in tragedy at Ayr hockey rink

Sitting in the stands at the North Dumfries Community Complex in Ayr, Ont., Tammy Palfreyman is a hockey mom, even though her son is no longer on the ice.

“It has been difficult,” she says. “But knowing how much Eli loved hockey, he lived and breathed hockey… going out his last breath playing hockey, that’s how he would have wanted to go.”

On Aug. 30, Ayr Centennials captain Eli Palfreyman collapsed in the dressing room during the second intermission of a preseason game. The 20-year-old junior hockey player later died in hospital, leaving his team, the small community of Ayr, and the hockey world stunned.

“I know he was so so happy to play that game and be surrounded by his friends,” his mom says. “It was just a bad twist of fate.”

In the days after, flags in North Dumfries flew at half-mast, hundreds attended a memorial for Palfreyman at the community complex, and a scholarship was announced in his honour.

“He was so loved, so respected by everyone, he had so much love for life,” says Tim Barrie, Ayr Centennials director of hockey.

Eli Palfreyman. (Submitted)

A NEW TRADITION IS BORN

Through the grief and devastation, Palfreyman says she couldn’t turn her back on her son’s team.

“Me and his dad felt like we should be at these games and we have to carry that on for him and we should support the team,” she explains.

Now after every home game win, they have a unique tradition. Eli’s former teammates find Palfreyman, sitting in her usual spot and bring the celebration to her, banging on the boards and high-fiving through the glass.

“To have the boys come over, I feel like Eli’s here,” Palfreyman says. “They’re supporting him, they’re supporting us and we’re all together celebrating.”

Tammy Palfreyman high-fives a player through the glass after an Ayr Centennials win. (Jeff Pickel/CTV Kitchener)

It’s a special moment for the team too.

“The best way for me to describe it is like time stops,” Barrie says. “I’ve never seen anything like it in all my life in hockey.”

“Eli loved celebrating and he scored big goals here,” says Centennials player Dante Pellegrino. “So to try and make his mom part of it, it’s really special for us so that way we can feel his presence over us when we score.”

For the love of the game, their teammate and son, the Centennials and the Palfreymans have forged an unbreakable bond.

“The community of Ayr have been just so lovely to us and Ayr Centennials, they are like family now,” says Palfreyman. “They have been so supportive of us in our most tragic time.”