The Saint Mary’s University men’s hockey team will be hosting the charity event Skate for Logan.
WINONA, Minn. — When it seemed like the annual Love for Logan fundraiser wouldn’t be able to happen this year, the Saint Mary’s University men’s hockey team stepped up.
The team will be hosting Skate for Logan, a fundraising event to raise money for Logan Kelm, a young boy from Holmen, Wis., diagnosed with Congenital Muscular Dystrophy Merosin Deficient, a condition that restricts his ability to eat, breathe, and walk, and confines him to a wheelchair.
Knowing that Logan is a massive hockey fan and hearing that the Love for Logan fundraiser would not be occurring, Saint Mary’s head men’s hockey coach Ryan Egan knew that the team needed to do something.
“Hockey is super important to their family,” said Egan. “I thought this would be a great way for the hockey community, and us as a hockey program, to give back to this family.”
Cue the SMU men’s hockey team.
On Oct. 16, at 3:30 p.m. at the Omni Center in Onalaska, Wis., the team will host a 45-minute practice open for public viewing, followed by a 45-minute open-skate, Skate With The Cardinals session. All donations will go directly to Logan and his family to assist with medical bills for upcoming surgeries.
In addition to hosting Skate for Logan, the men’s hockey team is combining the fundraiser with their first annual Brian McCarthy leadership retreat.
Created in honor of a 1979 SMU hockey alumnus who recently passed, the Brian McCarthy leadership retreat will be an annual retreat undertaken by the men’s hockey team that aims to help the team grow closer to the community and with each other.
Senior Brady Lindauer is excited that the team will be able to strengthen their relationship to each other through the retreat, in addition to helping Logan and his family.
“We are pumped for the opportunity to grow as a team and individually through the events we have planned, and the Skate for Logan is one of those opportunities,” said Lindauer. “Hockey has given us so much, so to be able to use it for the benefit of others is something we want to embrace with our culture at Saint Mary’s.”
The three-day retreat will take place in Onalaska, and in addition to the Skate for Logan fundraiser, the team will hear from speakers and participate in bonding activities to strengthen their relationship with each other and with the community.
“Our goal is to be off campus each year for the retreat,” said Egan. “We want there to be a service component. Skate for Logan is part of us giving back to the community, and we would like to do that wherever we go. And for the retreat piece, there’s getting to know ourselves and getting to know each other.”
The retreat and fundraiser allow the hockey team to focus on core values of community, togetherness, and unity.
“We have a ‘give back’ mentality,” said Egan. “The hockey world is bigger than just our team.”