RANDOLPH — As roughly 300 fans and supporters dressed in yellow jackets, scarves, and ribbons looked on, Steve Connelly stood at center ice at the Joseph Zapustas Arena and raised his right arm to display a puck imprinted with an angel above a yellow ribbon and the name “Paula” written underneath.

His eldest daughter, Lauren, a senior captain on the Braintree High varsity girls’ hockey team, lined up in front of her father for an honorary faceoff against Newton North captain Ashley Smith before the season opener last Wednesday night.