High school ice hockey standout Nick Kruczek was just beginning his college skating career when he died of an opiate overdose in 2013.

Within a month of losing their 20 year-old son, the Kruczek family rallied the Guilford and Madison communities to join them at the first annual Hand vs. Guilford Memorial Skate in Memory of Nick Kruczek.

Three years later, Nick’s mom, Sue Kruczek, readies everyone’s return to DiLungo Ice Rink in East Haven for the third annual Memorial Skate, set for Friday, Nov. 27 at 4:30 p.m. Event proceeds benefit Guilford High School (GHS) and Daniel Hand High School (DHHS) senior scholarships and local drug awareness programming.

Some parents may consider only the pain and heartache brought by watching someone else’s son skate the ice wearing Nick’s tribute jersey, but if sharing Nick’s story helps others to avoid its terrible end, it’s worth it, says Sue.

“It’s important,” she says. “It happened in my house; it’s happening in our backyards, and the subject is still kind of taboo. We need to get rid of the stigma.”

Nick played youth hockey in Guilford, and continued playing along the shoreline after his family moved to Madison when he was in 3rd grade. He grew into an elite Triple A travel hockey player. As a freshman, Nick became starting varsity center for the DHHS Tigers. He also began on a path toward drug addiction.

“He came off the number-16 ice hockey team in the nation to play high school,” says Sue. “Here he was, the starting center on the hockey team—a freshman, a 14 year-old boy. And that’s where it started. Some upperclassman threw him a little white pill.”

Part of what Sue works to introduce to those she can reach is to be aware these drugs are easily accessible and readily available. Many are prescription pills snatched from home medicine chests. With State Representative Sean Scanlon, Sue recently promoted the Guilford Police Department’s ongoing prescription drug collection program.

“We were at Guilford Police Department for a drug-take back program, and the response was huge. The collection box is always there, but it was nice to get the word out,” says Sue. “It doesn’t start with street drugs. It starts with that little, tiny, white, innocent-looking pill. It’s the kind of thing you can’t imagine is really going to happen in your house, but this is where it’s happening. Guilford and Madison are flooded with this epidemic.”

According to the State Medical Examiner’s office, 500 Connecticut residents died in 2014 from heroin and other opiate-related overdoses. Getting kids and their parents to start talking about the problem can make a difference, Sue says.

“My hope is that more people will talk about it, and the key is for these kids not to be afraid to say, ‘Look, I’ve messed up and I need help,’” says Sue. “It’s shameful and it’s isolating. That would be huge, if we could break that stigma.”

With support from her husband, Kyle (a Guilford native and GHS teacher), Sue’s interest in reaching out to help others in the community has blossomed. She has become connected with other parents who’ve experienced similar loss and is involved with Guilford Developmental Assets for Youth (DAY), which is dedicated to bringing the community together to create a healthier environment for local youth. With backing from DAY, Sue attended a five-day intensive drug awareness training workshop. Now, she’s working to establish locker room talks to spread awareness among local teens.

“It’s important to reach these kids, because it can grab you from that first time,” says Sue. “It’s happening everywhere; it’s happening in locker rooms. I’m going to start going into locker rooms to tell Nick’s story, because that’s where it happened to him.”

Parents need to be receptive to the possibility it can be happening to their child, she adds.

“My husband and I had no idea for years,” says Sue. “They can function for a long time, and then it just spirals.”

By being so open about her own family tragedy, Sue’s becoming a touchstone for other families hoping to help their kids; including those who seek her out for information and assistance.

“I’ve helped three people that have reached out me in the last month,” says Sue, who helped facilitate finding rehabilitation programs. “And I’ve had a handful of parents contact me privately and confidentially just to say, ‘Hey, thank you for being out there constantly with your message, because these are the struggles my son or daughter is going through.’ It’s an isolating thing. It can be shameful; it’s a disease. A lot of people hear ‘drugs’ or ‘overdose’ and think it will never happen to them. I used to be one of those people. It’s my reality; it’s my new life now.”

The Kruczeks moved back to Guilford three years ago. Having close connections in Guilford and Madison have helped Sue to vault her message into both communities, but more still needs to be done.

“A lot of parents are still keeping it hush-hush,” she says. “The ones that reach out to me privately, I respect that; their child is still here and the one they are trying to protect. But there were four overdoses in Madison just two months ago. The town knows about it, but nobody’s talking about it. Those are four kids that got lucky. They could have not started back at high school. There’s a few of us parents who have rallied together, through losing our children, and we’re hoping to do something to get rid of the taboo. It’s an exclusive club that I don’t want anybody else to join.”

To help raise awareness and save lives, the Kruczeks invite the community to join them at the Hand vs. Guilford Alumni Memorial Skate on Nov. 27. The event will include a Silent Auction (Patriots and Boston Bruins tickets will be on the block) raffles, and donations. Players for both sides will wear a tribute jersey with Number Five on an arm patch that’s half green, half gold to unite both schools.

“Nick’s senior year, the SCC Championship Game was, ironically, Hand against Guilford,” says Sue. “Hand won, and Nick was given the SCC MVP award.”

The Kruczeks have continued to support both high school teams in the seasons since.

“We still go to the Guilford and Madison regular season games quite a bit, so we know the kids and we’re still very active in supporting both leagues,” says Sue. “We never removed ourselves from it, we just always continued going and supporting.”

On Nov. 27, the Kruczek family, including Nick’s two younger siblings, will wear Nick’s Number Five on the back of their jerseys, but “there’s not a skater on the ice who has Number Five,” says Sue. “In in our minds, it’s retired.”

This year, a red ribbon will be added to the jerseys to represent Drug Awareness. At the event, a table will be set up with drug awareness information provided by See2Believe, another shoreline organization with which Sue has become affiliated.

“It’s a wonderful non-profit set up by a local couple,” says Sue. “They’re raising money to help fund and facilitate people in rehab. They reached out to me because I put my voice out there, and asked if I would help them.”

Sue says the response to the annual event, put on in memory of Nick, is heartwarming.

“It’s just nice to have the two communities that have been so giving continue to come and to show their support. I’m hearing people say, ‘I wouldn’t miss it,’” says Sue. “For me, if I can help one person through Nick’s story and Nick’s voice, I will. I know Nick is right here, smiling that million-dollar smile and saying, ‘My life will make a difference.’ That’s important to me.”

The third annual Hand vs. Guilford Alumni Memorial Skate In Memory of Nick Kruczek is Friday, Nov. 27 at 4:30 p.m. at East Haven’s DiLungo Ice Rink. In addition, contributions can be sent by check to: Nick Kruczek Fund, c/o Guilford Savings Bank, 1 Park St., Guilford CT 06437. Proceeds benefit GHS and DHHS senior scholarships and local drug awareness programming.