This weekend marks the end of the CIAC boys hockey season with three state champions crowned. But there was one matchup this winter where the outcome wasn't the focus.

On a cold Saturday night in February, hundreds of people crowded into the International Skating Center of Connecticut in Simsbury to watch some hockey.

It was the first time the two teams ever faced off. Both were made up of athletes with something in common. They played with Marcus Rogers at some point over the years.

"Marcus started playing hockey when he was four years old," said his mom, Tina Rogers. "When he was younger, he might not have always been the best player, but he definitely had the most heart. He loved hockey."

The Rogers family is from New Hartford.

"If it wasn't watching hockey on TV, it was knee hockey in the basement, or it was roller hockey in the driveway or just shooting pucks in the driveway," added his dad Marcus Rogers Sr. "Even in his room, he'd just be studying hockey cards."

Marcus started out on defense.

"He was a protector. He was a protector in life in general, but then in hockey, too," Tina said.

In high school, his coach moved him to forward. He played left wing for the Housatonic Mountaineers until Jan. 31, 2023. That night, Marcus' grandfather was driving him to hockey practice when a car hit them head-on.

"I called his best friend who was at practice with him, and he said Marcus never showed up at practice," recalled Marcus Sr., getting emotional. "So, he woke his father, who's a state police officer, and he said there was a double fatal accident on the route they would've took to hockey. And then I knew - our son was gone."

Marcus had just turned 16. He and his grandfather, William O'Leary, were both killed.

"As a 14-year-old, it was something like I couldn't even comprehend," Marcus' sister, McKensie Rogers, told News 12.

McKensie said her older brother was her best friend.

"He was just someone I looked up to," she explained.

"Since they were little, they were like two peas in a pod," Tina said with a smile.

McKensie struggled to cope after the crash.

"I needed something to keep him alive in me," McKensie said.

She remembered one of their last weekend's together. They were at an ice rink for the birthday party of their younger sister, Tori.

"I was like, 'Imagine how funny this would be if I tried out and played with you on your boys team?' It was kind of just a joke," McKensie recalled. "Until after the accident."

"She said, 'I want to finish what Marcus started,'" her dad told News 12. "I said, 'McKensie, this is high school boys varsity hockey,' and she said, 'I want to finish what he started.'"

"There was no hesitation. I think there was hesitation on my part at first. I was like, 'Are you sure?'" Tina added.

McKensie followed Marcus into hockey as a little kid but stopped playing several years ago.

"We went to the rink every day we could," her dad explained. "And she skated, and we skated, and we skated, and we played hockey until she felt confident."

The work paid off. The next hockey season there was a Rogers on the Mountaineers once again. McKensie also took her brother's No. 20.

"I mean, what a proud parent moment," Marcus Sr. said.

"I like to think he's guiding me on the ice," McKensie told News 12.

In a way, he is. The tape on the backhand side of her stick blade says "LLMR" -- Long Live Marcus Rogers.

"I had quite a few assists last year. I had some big hits, and like, after those moments, I could feel him there. It's really a great feeling," McKensie explained.

McKensie was sidelined this year after an injury in the fall resulted in surgery. She hadn't played in a single game until that Saturday night - Marcus' remembrance game.

"I made sure I would be able to play in this game. I wasn't going to miss it," she said.

Players came from all over the area to take part. Some even returned home from college.

"It really means a lot," one player told News 12.

"He's watching over us. We're thinking about him every single day," added another.

"He had such a different relationship with each and every one of those kids, but in some way, he touched their lives and they touched his life, " Tina said. "And they'll continue to touch ours."

The game came just days after the family marked two years since Marcus' death.

"We honor Marcus everyday, all the time. We talk about him all the time. We look at pictures of him all the time," Tina said. "That's how our survival is, to talk about him all the time."

And to spread his kindness, joy and unwavering spirit. The game doubled as a fundraiser for the Marcus Rogers Foundation, which the family formed after his death to help kids do the things Marcus loved. It's funded sports leagues, given out scholarships and helped kids who can't afford hockey expenses.

"You almost feel like he's still around because he's still giving," Marcus Sr. said.

Marcus' presence was sensed at the game. Maybe it was from all the Rogers gear in the crowd or his sister on the ice in his number and position. Or maybe it was because Marcus had a way of bringing people together, just like that night.

"To this day, people tell me, 'Never met a kid like your son.' And he was different. He was something special," Marcus Sr. recalled. "He was going to be something great. But now we'll pass his greatness on in a different way."