ECHL Community Recap

ECHL teams are always giving back to their local communities. Here's a look at some recent events from select teams.

Alaska – Tis the season to give back to the community, and on Dec. 16, that’s exactly what the Aces did. A young lady named Ashley, and her mother Kim, contacted the Aces office, in hopes of getting the Aces' players to visit the Providence Hospital. Ashley has been undergoing treatment at the hospital for a long time, and wanted to get Alaskan celebrities to the hospital to visit the other children and patients that are also getting medical treatment. The Aces were divided up into three groups and sent to different areas of the hospital; pediatrics, mental health and oncology. The patients in Pediatrics and Mental Health decorated cookies and played games with the players. Those in Oncology had a Q&A session with the players before taking group photos with them.

Greenville – On Dec. 12, the Swamp Rabbits players and front office staff delivered teddy bears from the team’s Teddy Bear Toss Night on Dec. 5 to Sitton GMC Buick Dealership for a Toys for Tots event. Players helped the Marines stuff trucks full of toys, took pictures, signed autographs, and helped carry in additional day-of-event donations from customers. All of these stuffed animals, toys, bikes, etc. were donated to Toys for Tots for the holidays.

Idaho – Thanks to the efforts of the US Marine Corps and the Idaho Steelheads Booster Club, the Steelheads collected 3,086 stuffed toys for the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots campaign, as well as $4,317 in cash donations on the team’s Teddy Bear Toss Night. Both figures are all-time highs for the Steelheads. Brandon Magee scored the Teddy Bear goal for Idaho. World War II Marine Corps veteran and Medal of Honor recipient, Cpt. Arthur Jackson, dropped the ceremonial first puck.

Indy – Just like a lot of other hockey teams, the Indy Fuel recently hosted a Teddy Bear Toss game on Dec. 12. Over 4,200 stuffed animals were collected at the game. On the Monday following the game, Fuel mascot Nitro and Fuel staff delivered the stuffed animals to news station RTV6 so they could be used in the news station’s holiday toy drive.

Rapid City – On Dec. 14, Rush players visited Canyon Lake Elementary to hand out presents with Santa to all the students in grades K-5! The presents were generously donated by one of the longtime Rush Season Ticket Holders. This present giveaway day with Santa is an annual event that the Rush take part in.