LYNN — As of Wednesday evening, former St. Mary’s hockey player Kory Ouellette’s No. 3 jersey was framed and put inside of St. Mary’s locker room at Connery Rink. Ouellette was killed in a single-vehicle crash at age 20 in Aug. 2023.
Before St. Mary’s game against Westford Academy, the captains of the Spartans also presented a framed jersey to the Ouellette family.
“It means the world to us. We have so many memories in this rink. Kory was an eighth grader on the state title team,” said Steve Ouellette, Kory’s father. “He got to play with his brother (Kyle) and they won a baseball state title together, too. The memories just come flooding back and I can’t believe the amount of teammates from the title team and from after that came. It’s overwhelming – the support we have here.”
In his second year as St. Mary’s head coach, Matt Smith’s message from day one has been “family first.”
“I thought as the head coach, it was the right thing to do for the family. As I said in the speech, the number isn’t retired because he had a hundred points or because he’s the best defenseman to ever play here,” Smith said. “We did that because we preach family first and you have to show that with your actions. I thought, tonight, our actions were family first and really doing something amazing for that family because they deserve it.”
Connery Rink was jam-packed. From alumni wearing varsity hockey jackets, to friends and family members of the Ouellette family, the community came together to honor Kory’s legacy.
“The alumni that showed up for their fallen teammate is just incredible,” Smith said. “We had all kinds of players from different teams – from the 2017 championship team to players from last year’s team – and it’s really important to us because we preach family first, and that’s a family member of ours.”
Steve Ouellette spoke about the special connection between his family and St. Mary’s. He also described the community as a “brotherhood.
“They’ve all been amazing,” he said. “Everybody looks out for each other. It’s family – it’s total family. There’s nothing like it that I’ve seen anywhere else.”
The Ouellette family can still be found attending hockey games cheering on the Spartans.
“The Ouellettes have been supportive of the program and they’ve come to every game – even last year,” Smith said. “Steve texts me every week. There’s a scholarship in his name that goes to a player in that locker room.”
