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Bruce Doef worked for more than two decades in the now-closed Hershey plant and now works for Parks Canada. His wife, Bobbi-Jean, runs a daycare out of their home. “She has raised more kids in this community than you could probably shake a stick at,” said Dobson.

By all accounts, Neil Doef is a rare hockey talent. The left-winger was rookie of the year in the CCHL last year as a 16-year-old. He had 16 goals and 29 assists in just 34 games this year, prompting his selection as a 17-year-old to Team Canada East for a tournament filled with older players.

“To put the Team Canada jersey on was a big thrill for him,” Dubas said. Just over a week ago, Doef took to Twitter to express his delight. “Very proud and honoured to be able to represent Canada playing for Team Canada East in the World Junior A Challenge!” he wrote.

“He was a wonderful hockey player and he is a wonderful young man,” Dubas said. “Every parent would be proud to have a child like Neil.”

A top student as well as a special player, Doef received a full four-year hockey scholarship from Princeton University earlier this year.

“We have a lot of hockey here,” said Dobson, “but we haven’t had a lot of players move on to different levels. This was one kid that had that in his future, and I think everyone’s feeling the pain today.”

On Monday, a day after Doef’s injury, a group of close friends of the Doef family came to the Bears to propose a fundraising effort – called “Buckets of Love for Neil” – at Friday’s home game. The idea was to go through the crowd with buckets, soliciting cash donations for the family.