ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Logan O’Connor thinks of his late father in pregame warmup. He thinks of him sometimes in the middle of a game, too. But afterward, that's when his absence really hits hard.
The Colorado Avalanche forward cherished their postgame talks.
His father, former NHL defenseman Myles O’Connor, died suddenly last month. He was 59 years old.
“The reason I play is because he was my hero,” O'Connor said Friday after an optional practice. “I wanted to be just like him.”
His father was a captain for the University of Michigan hockey squad before being drafted in the third round by the New Jersey Devils in 1985. Myles O'Connor played a total of 43 games over his career with three goals. He also had four assists — five, if assisting in getting his son to fall in love with the game and become an NHL player counts.
“He was the most successful man I know," said Logan O'Connor, a standout at the University of Denver before signing with the Avalanche as an undrafted free agent in 2018. "He had tons of friends and family around him, and tons of great relationships. ... The support our family has had because of the man he is has been pretty remarkable and special to see.”
His coaches and teammates constantly check in on him as he deals with the grief. That means the world to him. He attended his father's celebration of life last week in Calgary.
“They’ve been super-understanding of the process, and try and take my mind off things,” said O'Connor, who made his season debut on Oct. 23 as he dealt with a lower-body injury to start the season. “Every guy texted me when it was happening, and was super-supportive along the way, and doing whatever they can to help throughout the process.”
The organization gave him all the space he needed to heal.
“When someone’s going through a difficult time off the ice or even at the rink, it’s a time to be patient and be supportive," said Colorado coach Jared Bednar, whose team hosts Detroit on Saturday. "Help them through it any way you can.”
Being back on the ice has been emotional for O'Connor. That's simply because hockey was glue that bonded father and son.
“I could have taken three months, to be honest,” O'Connor said. “He wouldn’t want me to dwell on it too much. Obviously, it will be in the forefront of my mind forever. It’s also on me to live my life, my mom, my brother, to make the strides to getting back to a life of normalcy."
Over his career, O’Connor has frequently taken a brief moment to reflect while going through pregame warmup.
“How grateful I am for living my life, living the dream I’ve always dreamt of,” he explained. "Now it’s a little bit more of a personal thing with him. I’m thankful for him and everything.”
The father and son were supposed to be at a Denver-Michigan college hockey game together last month. O'Connor won a national title with the Pioneers in 2017, while his father was a star for the Wolverines.
O'Connor participated in a ceremonial faceoff while holding his young son.
“It felt like a way to honor him,” O'Connor said. “Something I know he’d still want me to do with my son. It was hard to do, but I think it was the right thing. He would be proud of me for doing so.”
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi (59) follows the puck with Colorado Avalanche right wing Logan O'Connor (25) in the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche right wing Logan O'Connor (25) moves the puck past Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser (44) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Isaac Wasserman)
The father of the 20-year-old co-pilot killed alongside eight others in a Florida Learjet crash said Friday he has repeatedly listened to her final radio transmissions, searching for answers and finding pride in how she handled the crisis.
Allan Filgueiras, a pilot who helped teach Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras to fly, said he marveled at how “she's tough” even as the plane plunged straight toward the ground Sunday.
“I wanted to be by her side. Inside the plane, to help,” he said at a news conference, often holding back tears.
“She showed me what it is to be a hero,” he said, “because once you see that coming, a lot of the big boys — military or whatever — they can’t handle. And she was the one over there to the last minute fighting.”
Nathalia Filgueiras can first be heard calmly telling air traffic control about ice buildup on the plane as it flew into a thunderstorm. Turbulence tossed it up and down by 700 feet (200 meters), but the situation quickly escalated as the aircraft fell at breathtaking speed. “Declare an emergency 722-Bravo-Delta. We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute!” she said.
Her father and aviation safety experts have praised her composure as she called out updates while knowing the plane's fate was sealed. The captain, 55-year-old Jeff Gregory, is believed to have been at the controls.
“For the family — it’s like having the heart torn from my chest,” Allan Filgueiras said in Spanish. “I have to find a way to go on living.”
The family has challenged online criticism questioning whether she had enough experience to be in the cockpit of a high-performance business jet. She had more than 1,300 hours of experience and completed extensive training to earn her commercial pilot’s license and Learjet certification.
Her father's attorney, Stuart Grossman, said the news conference aimed to “preserve not just her memory, but her reputation.”
“She was at the top of her class in everything that she did, and she was perfectly qualified to be the co-pilot on this flight, despite her tender years,” Grossman said, noting there were no immediate plans for any lawsuit.
The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet determined what caused the crash. The Learjet accelerated beyond its design limits as it fell, and pieces of its tail were found miles away from the crash site, which is a deep crater on the edge of a road. Investigators were still searching the area Friday after finding part of an engine a day earlier. The cockpit recorder remains missing.
Allan Filgueiras said he helped teach her how to fly after taking her aloft for the first time at age 12. Once she got a job as a pilot, she told him she couldn’t believe she was getting paid to do something she loved.
“It was her happiest moment, to fly,” he said.
Her mentor and instructor, Chris Kirk, said she earned her position through dedication and perseverance by putting in hard work and long hours.
During her Learjet 60 check ride in March, the examiner was so impressed he thought she had more than 5,000 hours of experience — nearly four times the amount of flight time she had logged.
Kirk said her professionalism was evident in those final radio transmissions, which gave the NTSB important information. Many members of the military special forces who Kirk worked with probably couldn't keep their wits in a similar situation.
“This was an incredible human being,” Kirk said, “who did a job that very few people would have been able to do under a duress that’s unimaginable.”
Retired airline pilot John Cox said earlier this week that his career began similarly to Nathalia Filgueiras', as he started flying professionally at age 19. He said she had done well to earn a Learjet co-pilot's seat.
“To be in the right seat of a Lear 60, she had to impress somebody, because that’s a good ride. I mean, that’s great. I know she loved it,” said Cox, who now runs Safety Operating Systems, an aviation consulting company.
The other crash victims included technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson; his wife, Helen Sharp; and their two young children, relatives said. The family’s nanny, Ana María Ramírez Cetina, was also killed. The other two victims were Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, who owned the Arca Boutique Hotel in Honduras.
Investigators work at the scene of a plane crash in Greenacres, Fla., Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
This photo made from video provided by WSVN shows Allan Filgueiras, whose daughter Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras was the co-pilot of a Learjet that crashed, with attorney Stuart Grossman at a news conference in Coral Gables, Fla., on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (WSVN via AP)
A drone image shows aftermath of deadly Florida plane crash that killed nine in Greenacres, Fla., Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
This image taken from Aki Kuusisto's video shows a small jet crashing in Palm Beach County, Fla., on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (Aki Kuusisto via AP)
This photo made from video provided by WSVN shows Allan Filgueiras, whose daughter Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras was the co-pilot of a Learjet that crashed, attends a news conference in Coral Gables, Fla, on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (WSVN via AP)
