Ben Moch, who wore No. 11 for the Mandan Braves, died from injuries suffered in a car crash earlier this month. He was 17.
He was a junior at Mandan High School. The back half of his high school career, the stretch where junior and college scouts start paying closer attention, was still in front of him.
Moch put up 19 points as a sophomore. People around North Dakota hockey were beginning to learn the name.
He'd also earned opportunities at NAHL camps, chasing the dream of playing beyond high school.
The NAHL is the top Tier II junior league in the United States. For a lot of players, it's the next rung on the ladder toward college hockey.
One tribute graphic shows him in the black Braves sweater, one knee raised and stick in hand, framed by a pair of white wings.
So what do you say about a 17-year-old who was still climbing that ladder? Nothing that makes it make sense.
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Young hockey player's dream cut short as Ben Moch dies after car crash
His death has shaken the entire North Dakota hockey community. And the response has stretched well past the Mandan bench.
Even rival players and families have rallied around Ben's loved ones. They've helped sell more than 2,700 “Mandan Strong” shirts to support the families affected by the crash.
The slogan puts the town's name front and center. That fits a loss felt this widely.
Read that again: families, plural. The crash reached more than one home, and the help is meant to reach all of them.
Nobody had to call that line change. People on both sides of a rivalry saw the need and went over the boards on their own.
Rival families getting behind a kid from the other bench says more about this sport than any trophy ever will.
One post summed it up with a simple sign-off: Rest easy, Ben. Forever #11.
Whenever the Braves next step on the ice, No. 11 won't be on the lineup card. How a locker room full of teenagers carries that is a question nobody in Mandan can answer yet.
Should every North Dakota high school team wear a No. 11 decal this season to honor Ben Moch?
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