The goal of the Estevan Power Dodge Bruins is to give back to the community as much as they receive.
“It’s very important,” said Bruins centre Zach Goberis. “It shows that you care about them and you’re not just here for hockey. It shows how much they mean to you when it comes to support, so you want to give back to the community as much as possible.”
So far this season, Goberis and his teammates have paid numerous visits to schools in Estevan and area to meet their young fans, engage with them in friendly games such as floor hockey and soccer and provide the kids with free tickets to their home games. The Bruins have also run a teddy bear toss night during one of their games with proceeds going to the Salvation Army, held a pancake breakfast fundraiser for the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation and volunteered their time at local minor hockey tournaments to help with score keeping and running the penalty boxes.
“We all volunteer together,” said Goberis. “We all make sure everyone participates and not one guy is doing everything and one guy is not doing anything. We all try to go to every single event as a team.”
Bruins head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood said the team’s community involvement provides a life experience for the young players. He said the different off-ice activities help the guys get to know the community, meet people and promote the game among this area’s youth.
“Come game day we’re all pretty focused on what’s happening inside the glass and you don’t really get a good feel for how people view the team and who is there,” said Lewgood. “So, it provides them an opportunity to see that and the last thing is it’s more time they get to spend together bonding as a group.”
Goberis said meeting the young Bruins fans at the schools is his favourite part of the team’s community engagement activities. He said interacting with the kids brings back a lot of good memories for him and the hope is they can see that if they try hard enough their goals could also come true.
“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “They look up to you, so it’s kind of cool being that role model.”
