Like many other rinks all over New England, Falmouth Ice Arena had a busy weekend.
The Island Queen Buddy Ferreira Classic is a prominent regular-season boys hockey tournament that eight MIAA programs – some from close by, some from a substantial distance away – look forward to playing in every year. That buzz showed through quadruple-headers on Saturday and Sunday in the 30th edition’s first two days.
By the time the championship came around Wednesday night, 11 games between state tournament-bound teams were successfully and safely completed – with performance and sportsmanship being, more or less, the only factors people in the rink really needed to worry about.
Thankfully.
Monday’s news of a shooting during a high school hockey game between Rhode Island’s Blackstone Valley Co-op and Coventry/Johnston at Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, about 70 miles away from Falmouth, shook the local hockey community. Two victims were killed and three others were critically injured by Robert Dorgan before he took his own life.
Safe and successful won’t be taken for granted for a while.
“Their coach said (in an interview) that they had their safe space invaded,” said Falmouth boys head coach Paul Moore, the president of the Massachusetts State Hockey Coaches Association. “It’s unfortunate and just tragic, all the way around. … You’ve got to have gratitude and be thankful for what you have. Something like that is just unthinkable.”
Police identified the two victims as Rhonda Dorgan, the ex-wife of Robert, and their 23-year-old son, Aidan Dorgan. The three critically injured were Rhonda’s parents, Linda and Gerald Dorgan, and family friend Thomas Geruso. Another son of Rhonda and Robert was playing in the game, and police said Robert Dorgan’s attendance wasn’t considered irregular.
Footage, which showed players ducking for cover as several gunshots sounded before they rushed across the ice in the frenzy, widely spread online and across numerous news stations.
“(The video) was completely horrifying,” said Duxbury boys head coach Mike Flaherty, who is also the MIAA boys hockey coaches representative. “Watching those kids scramble off the ice, duck on the bench and everything else, my heart sank.”
“It definitely hits close to home because this is supposed to be a safe haven,” added BC High head coach John Flaherty. “You’re a teenager, you’re supposed to be able to come to the rink with your buddies and play hockey and have a great time. It’s just unfathomable that that would happen, and it’s so tragic. Our hearts go out to that player. He’s on the ice, and unfortunately, that’s his family up in the stands. We feel bad for him, we send prayers for him and we support him in any way we can.”
The local hockey community is well-noted for how strongly it rallies around one another in times of tragedy and need. The willingness and compassion are no different in this case, though it’s certainly unique.
“It’s scary,” Mike Flaherty said. “It’s the way the world is now, too. But I never thought for one minute — I’ve been in the rink since I was 5-years-old. I never thought I’d see it in the hockey rink, ever. … They don’t put that stuff in our coaching manual.”
The Falmouth hockey program also faced tragedy in 2017, after 17-year-olds James Lavin and Owen Higgins were killed in a car accident when leaving practice at Falmouth Ice Arena.
This is a very different situation, but the heartbreak is familiar.
“We sense the tragedy of it, the emotion of it,” Moore said. “I don’t even want to compare it. We had a tragedy here, and it was nothing like that, but I think the most important thing is to make sure these kids know, and everyone on that team and at the ice, that it’s OK not to be OK. … I think that’s the message I would send over there, and keep praying for them.”
John Flaherty said some of the younger players in the BC High program, whose seasons are over and are now playing with their clubs, were at Lynch Arena hours before the incident. Falmouth played there a couple years ago.
As of Wednesday night, Mike Flaherty and John Flaherty hadn’t talked with their teams yet about the incident, but both said they planned to at length. After expressing emotional condolences, St. Mary’s of Lynn girls coach Frank Pagliuca, also a teacher in Lexington, said Thursday he had acknowledged the incident with his players, but was careful not to harp on it in a way that instills fear and discomfort for them.
“Unfortunately in today’s society … it can happen anywhere,” he said. “It’s just the reality we’re living in these days. You never think it’s going to happen to you, you just don’t know. You can live in fear or you can live, and sometimes I think you just have to live.”
Mike Flaherty, who also helps manage numerous rinks with FMC Ice Sports, said one of his first thoughts was how the incident affects safety protocols at rinks moving forward, and expects there will be discussion with the MIAA as the state tournament nears.
“What steps are we going to have to take in the rinks now?” he said. “I don’t know if there are any, but it puts more eyeballs on the rinks now. … Hopefully it’s an isolated incident, but I think we all have to be on our toes.”
As for John Flaherty, BC High home games always have three or four UMass Boston police officers on detail and he feels additional action might not be necessary.
“It’s unfortunately another example that we have to be always aware of our surroundings, even at a hockey game,” he said. “I think the MIAA does a great job with the tournament, and I’m fully confident that was an isolated incident and we don’t have anything to worry about.”
