Following the tragic loss of Travis Stryker to a car crash while on his way to a hockey tournament with his select team, the Dallas Penguins, the Eagles hockey team is now doing all they can to honor and remember their fallen teammate.

“We were all at his funeral with our jerseys on over our ties and then we all had a team dinner afterwards,” said senior Reid Stewart. “It was really comforting to be with the team that day.”

The team is now faced with the challenge of playing an actual game for the first time without Stryker. All players will wear stickers with Travis’s initials and his number 18 on their helmets to go along with a banner that will be on the boards of the rink while the team plays. Once the season has concluded the team will retire the number 18 as well.

“Doing this kind of stuff definitely comforts me, but it doesn’t make up for it,” Stewart said. “It’s something that Travis would have really liked and we need to do it for him.”

Despite all the that team has done and will be doing to honor Travis, Stewart said that there is one thing that would stand above the rest.

“If we won state that would definitely bring it home. That would be the last thing on the list,” Stewart said. “The team has been talking a lot and we realize we are playing for more than just a record now.”

Nothing will be easy for the team in the upcoming weeks and months. Remembering what Stryker was about will keep them going throughout the season.

“His great attitude and passion towards hockey was something I will never forget,” Stewart said. “It was infectious and that is something we have to hold on to.”

story by Jarret Rogers // sports editor