When Kelly was forced to miss some time earlier this season while receiving treatment to battle a rare form of thyroid cancer, Kelly reached out to Jay and asked if he would help fill his role for a couple of games.
“It just goes to show how talking to people and making the effort to go over and shake people’s hands goes a long way,” Jay said Thursday from the Port City.
He filled in for Kelly with the Sea Dogs in early November and joined them fulltime later in the month. Jay had worked with Charlottetown Islanders equipment manager Andrew (Spider) MacNeill for two seasons and had served as the Charlottetown Gaudet’s Auto Body Islanders director of operations in the New Brunswick Senior Baseball League for two years.
He started the 2016-17 season with the Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals junior A hockey team.
“I am forever grateful for Pat McIver and Billy McGuigan in Summerside,” said Jay, a 21-year-old Charlottetown native. “They understood what I needed to do and to help out DK as well.”
The hockey community showed their support for Kelly by sending well wishes to the well-known equipment manager via Twitter with the hashtag #TeamDK.
When Kelly returned to the Sea Dogs in February, Jay stayed on with the team and continues to help out wherever he is needed.
RELATED: Click here for story on Kelvin Grove's Bailey Webster.
The Sea Dogs won the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s regular season title and have won three playoff series to make it to the finals.
“It’s been so special to be a part of,” Jay said. “There has been so many different things that has gone on throughout the season.”
The team loaded up in January for a title run. The roster is chalked full of NHL-drafted players, including goalie Callum Booth, defencemen Thomas Chabot, Jakub Zboril and Simon Bourque as well as forwards Nathan Noel, Julien Gauthier, Matthew Highmore, Samuel Dove-McFalls, Summerside native Spencer Smallman, Mathieu Joseph and Bokondji Imama. There are also top prospects like forwards Joe Veleno and Cedric Pare as well as goalie Alex D’Orio.
“We’ve got a special thing going on,” Jay said. “It’s just so fun to be a part of and just so fun to sit back and watch everyday.”
In March, the team announced defenceman Oliver Felixson had Hodgkin's lymphoma and was returning home to Finland to receive treatments for the cancer.
The Sea Dogs have battled adversity throughout the season, but it has made them a close-knit group.
“There’s more than just hockey with this team,” Jay said.
