NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WKBW) — Niagara University’s Division 2 club hockey team is playing for a national championship, but all will be competing with heavy hearts, as they skate in honor of their late teammate Bradly Burden.
The 29-1-1 Purple Eagles are one of 16 teams set to compete in the ACHA M2 Nationals in St. Louis, but there’s one player noticeably missing from practice.
Bradly Burden, aka Burdy, a sophomore defenseman, was killed in a Niagara Falls car accident last week, just two days after the team clinched its spot at nationals.
"It has been tough, mornings are rough," teammate Benji Orgil said. "Looking at my phone, I expect a Snapchat from him."
"Just, still doesn’t even feel real to be honest," teammate Aiden Waters said. "He was a one-of-one… If he ever played a few bad games in a row, in the team showers, he would wash his stick and wash off all the ‘bad juju’ with soap and water, which was pretty funny. I don’t know if I’ll ever see somebody do that again."
As the March 12 opening of the Nationals group play neared for the team, head coach Sean Casilio didn’t know if his team would still play for the championship, until a conversation with Bradly’s family changed his mind.
WATCH: 'Playing for him': Niagara University club hockey team playing for championship in honor of late teammate
"[His dad] basically told me, we had to go," Casilio said. "If there’s one thing I want to do, I want to win 5 games for the Burdens."
When the team travels to play in St. Louis, Missouri, Bradly will be with them.
All players will wear warm-up jerseys with Bradly’s number 20 on the back. During the games, number 20 will be sewn onto all game jerseys and stickers saying "Burdy God Bless" have been placed on the backs of every player’s helmet.
"We are going to be playing 6 on 5," Waters said. "We know he’s going to be with us."
"We are going to be playing with him, and we are going to be playing for him," teammate Mario Smith said.
"It’ll be like having him out there with us, that’s how we’re looking at it," Orgil said.
For this number-one-ranked team in the northeast, just showing up at nationals is not their goal. They want to win a championship for their friend.
"It would mean the world. Obviously, it would be for him. But then it would just be a heck of a year for our team and for us as a group," Smith said.
