Travis Roy died in October at age 45. The Bruins will wear a TR24 logo on their helmets this season in honor of Roy. Elise Amendola/Associated Press

When the Bruins take the ice for the first time Thursday night and throughout the 2021 season, they’ll be honoring Travis Roy.

Roy, who grew up in Yarmouth, died in October at age 45. He attended Yarmouth High School and North Yarmouth Academy, where he was a standout hockey player, graduated from Tabor Academy in Massachusetts, and played hockey for Boston University. But just 11 seconds into his first college game on Oct. 20, 1995, Roy hit the boards and shattered his fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae, paralyzing him from the neck down at 20 years old.

Roy turned his accident into his life’s work becoming a motivational speaker and a fundraiser to help provide equipment to disabled individuals, and became a beloved and influential figure in the disabled community and the hockey community, especially in New England.

The Bruins, like the Boston University men’s and women’s hockey teams, will wear TR24 emblems this season.

“The Boston Bruins are proud to join Boston University this upcoming season in honoring the courageous and inspirational life of Travis Roy,” Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs said in the Bruins statement. “I am forever grateful for having had the opportunity to call Travis a friend and will never forget the lessons his life’s journey taught us all. Travis’s profound legacy will always be remembered within the Bruins locker room and in hockey rinks across the world.”

Roy’s parents added a joint statement.

“We thank BU, the Bruins and sports’ fans throughout New England for loving and supporting our son and the Travis Roy Foundation,” said Brenda and Lee Roy.


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