Tyler Nanne played hockey with Jack Jablonski for four years. When Jablonski, a sophomore, was left paralyzed after being checked into the boards during a Benilde-St. Margaret’s junior varsity game, Nanne was shocked. “It wasn’t a real bad hit,” said Nanne, “but the results were horrible.”

Nanne is not alone. Edina High School and the rest of the Twin Cities have been buzzing about the injury. Facebook and Twitter have exploded with support. Jablonski’s number 13 became a ubiquitous profile picture while his hashtag, #jabs, was trending nationwide. On January 5, Edina students joined other students across the Twin Cities by wearing white to show support for Jabs.

Senior Jenna Privette of St. Croix Lutheran girls varisty hockey team suffered a similar injury just days later.

The Edina boys varsity hockey team went back to basics in their first game after Jablonski’s accident. “Coach Giles told us to ease up on hard hits,” said junior captain Parker Reno. “Nobody wants to see something like this happen again.”

Nanne spoke for the entire state when he said, “Jabs is always in the back of our minds.”