Colby Cave left an indelible mark on the NHL community, which is continuing to honor his legacy.
The Edmonton Oilers and Boston Bruins announced that Thursday’s game will be a celebration of Cave’s life, cut tragically short in April 2020 by a brain bleed. Cave was just 25 years old.
Before the game, there’s a planned video tribute containing highlights from Cave’s time with both teams. His wife, Emily, will then perform the ceremonial puck drop.
“He’s in your mind all the time,” Oilers coach Dave Tippett said this week. “He was a fine young man that we lost too early.”
Undrafted to the NHL but determined to make his way, Cave spent five years in the Bruins’ farm system before debuting with the big club on Dec. 21, 2017. Cave had appeared in 23 NHL games for Boston when Edmonton claimed him off waivers in January 2019. He was with the Oilers for two seasons, right up to the NHL’s shutdown due to COVID-19 in March 2020.
In total, Cave played 67 career NHL games, tallying four goals and nine points.
Cave was in Toronto when he began complaining of headaches on April 6, 2020. His condition worsened overnight, and he was airlifted to Sunnybrook Hospital for emergency surgery to remove a colloid cyst that was found to be causing a brain bleed.
After spending four days in a medically induced coma, Cave died on April 11.
The news was met with an outpouring of love and support for the Cave family, including by the Oilers and Bruins, who will once again pay tribute to a player gone too soon.