Kevin Hayes honors late brother Jimmy: 'You taught me everything'

Philadelphia Flyers forward Kevin Hayes paid tribute to his older brother Jimmy on Tuesday in an emotional Instagram post.

The elder Hayes died Monday at 31.

"Yesterday I lost my best friend, my brother," Hayes wrote. "My whole life it has always been 'Jimmy and Kevin,' or the 'Hayes brothers.' I have followed you around since I can remember and I wouldn't want it any other way."

"Whether it was youth hockey, Nobles, Boston College, or the NHL, you paved the way for me. You taught me everything I needed to know in order to succeed."

The Hayes brothers played the 2010-11 season together at Boston College. Jimmy, a second-round pick in 2008, played 334 NHL games split between the Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins, and New Jersey Devils.

His professional career concluded in 2019 after a season with the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.