Hillcrest School Grade 8 student Logan Nagel got to celebrate his 13th birthday one day early last Thursday when the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins made a trip to his school.
Nagel, a longtime Bruins fan who attends around 10 games a year, got the chance to mingle with his hockey heroes when they spent the warm autumn afternoon entertaining the 160 boys and girls at the school by playing fun games of basketball, kickball and regular footie with the kids. Though it is unlikely the Bruins knew that Nagel’s big day was coming up, the team still gave him and his many friends a present in tickets to their ‘Hillcrest School Night’ game Friday against the rival Weyburn Red Wings.
“It’s pretty cool,” said Nagel about hanging out with the team. “You get to meet them a little better and see where they come from and all that stuff.”
Bruins captain Keegan Allison said a lot of the kids they meet on the annual school tours look up to them, so it is a pleasure to come out and show them a fun time. He said they do a lot of community involvement work over the season, but the school tours are maybe the biggest thing that the team does and every member of the Bruins enjoys the experience.
Clark Munroe, director of operations and marketing for the Bruins, said their biggest fans are kids and the players know coming out to meet them for an afternoon means a lot. He said the kids and the Bruins all seem to enjoy and get excited for the school tour, so this season the plan is to go to every elementary school with a full roster and even go back more than once if they’re invited.
“This year is going to be fun,” said Munroe. “We want everyone to come together and it’s the same with our boys on the team too. We want them to all be together as much as possible and this way I think we’re going to do that.”
Nagel said the Bruins making a trip to the school is important to the kids because they are their role models. He said the players have made it far into their dreams and can show that to the kids they meet, so that they can follow their lead.
“It was lots of fun,” added Nagel about the afternoon. “Go Bruins.”
