The Crookston Pirate Boys’ and Girls’ hockey teams will hold their third annual Crookston Pirate Hockey Fights Cancer games on Friday, January 31, starting at 5:00 p.m. For the past few years, Crookston Pirate Hockey has been raising funds for community members fighting cancer with the help of the Minnesota Hockey Fight Cancer Organization.
Last year, the Pirate Hockey Fights Cancer games raised over $30,000 for Dani Sylvester, who continues to fight Breast Cancer. This year, Mickey Kaiser and Kari Trudeau are the honorees and recipients of ALL funds raised. Boys’ Hockey Coach Josh Hardy explains what Kaiser and Trudeau mean to the hockey community.
“This year, we are honoring Kari Trudeau, who used to be our Crookston Hot Stove Hockey President,” says Hardy. “She’s had kids in the system, Carter graduated last year, and Collin is a Bantam this year, and she has been fighting breast cancer.” Hardy says Trudeau had surgery last month and is starting chemo and radiation. “She has been a huge part of our program for the last couple of years and has helped organize and fundraise the past two years for us for this event,” says Hardy. “So, we are excited to give back to her.”
Different from the past two years, this year, they are honoring two community members. “The other is Mickey Kaiser, who has been a long-time staple of Crookston Pirate Hockey, whether it’s coaching the little kids all the way up to the older Bantams and had a couple of kids come up through the program,” says Hardy. “Brenda, his wife, ran the concession stand for about a zillion years here. Just a long-time Crookston Pirate guy that you associate with Pirate Hockey.” Hardy says that Kaiser is battling Prostate Cancer.
Crookston Pirate Hockey invites everyone to come out Friday night to watch some hockey and donate to an amazing cause. “We have a 5:00 pm. game against Greenway for the Varsity Boys, and at 7:00 p.m., the girls play Fort Francis.”Coach Hardy says there will also be a JV Boys game against Greenway at 7:00 p.m. The little ones will be on the ice to show their skills as well. “In between periods of the girl’s game, the mini-mites are going to be playing; I think my little five-year-old is going to be out there cruising around.”
Besides watching hockey, Hardy says other things will happen at the arena Friday night. “We will be doing “Chuck-a-Puck, 50/50; people can just donate however they want,” says Hardy. I think we are already up to almost $4,500 at this point just with people sending in donations through our website.” There will also be raffle tickets sold for a handmade quilt made out of old Pirate Hockey Jerseys and bracelets for sale that say “ Pirate Hockey Fights Cancer.”
If you can’t make it to the Crookston Sports Center on Friday night, you can still donate to Pirate Hockey Fights Cancer and support Kari Trudeau and Mickey Kaiser in their cancer battles.
To donate, you can scan below –
Or, click on the link below to be directed to the donation site.
https://charity.pledgeit.org/mnhockeyfightscancer/teams/@crookston-high-school
