Crash victim AJ Vincent remembered with annual hockey game

ELYRIA — The sixth annual AJ Vincent Memorial hockey game brought players of all ages out on the ice at North Park Ice Arena on Saturday afternoon.AJ Vincent, 18, was killed when the vehicle he was driving was struck by a drunken driver just yards from his home Nov. 27, 2010. He and his friends were going to get gas in his mother's car when Mark Ralich, 21, of Elyria, hit the Ford Focus that Vincent was driving at the intersection of Brandtson Avenue and Poplar Street, trapping him and two of his passengers inside. A third passenger, Cody Toboz, ran from the crash back to Vincent's house to get help. Ralich was sentenced to seven years in prison for aggravated vehicular homicide and was released earlier this year.An avid hockey and baseball player, AJ Vincent was part of the Elyria Panthers Hockey Club from 1995 to 2006. Proceeds from the game benefit the AJ Vincent Memorial Scholarship, which assists families with fees associated with playing hockey for the city's team.For AJ Vincent's mother, Jean Vincent, the alumni hockey game is full of mixed emotions. Seeing her son's friends — including captains Toboz and Pat DeSouza, who were both injured in the crash — reminds her of milestones her son will never have."It's hard though because — we're really happy to do this and it's a happy/sad moment — because when I see his friends married, kids, I don't have that," she said. "We hope that this puts a message out (about) what people really lose when something like this happens."The family doesn't keep track of how much is donated, she said, the amount is turned over to the Elyria Panthers Hockey Club, which has since renamed its beginners program to "The AJ Vincent Beginners' Program."Though not a "hardcore" hockey game, Vincent said there still is some friendly competition between Toboz and DeSouza, who were best friends with her son since kindergarten.In the years since the memorial game was first held, Vincent said, she still tears up when she sees people wearing the sweatshirts or T-shirts from the hockey game."It also makes me proud that he was important enough to be remembered," she said. "We'll be sitting in the house and we'll here the horn honk and a lot of times when they drive by they'll honk the horn like they're saying 'Hi' to him."Through the crowd of hockey players young and old — including some nearing their 60s — AJ Vincent's memory lives on, spurred by Jean Vincent's mission to save other families from her pain."I've told people before, if we can save one person a year," she said. "One life a year, of someone not (having) what happened with him, we feel like we've done something."Donations to the scholarship fund can be made at the North Park Ice Arena or by contacting Elyria Panthers Hockey Club president Lee Frank at elyriahockey@gmail.com.Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.