This Saturday, the Collingwood Blues will face off against the Markham Royals in a special game that coincides with their first-ever Hockey Battles Cancer event.
At 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 25 at Eddie Bush Memorial Arena, the Blues Junior 'A' team will take to the ice in special purple jerseys for the occasion, which will include a silent auction fundraiser to support a local teen currently battling cancer.
Terri Hollinshead, who serves as a member of the Collingwood Blues executive and is one of the event organizers, says the idea came together after the Blues executive was approached by an arena employee.
“He told us about this 17-year-old. We wanted to raise funds for him. He’s a local kid, and we wanted to keep this in the community,” said Hollingshead. “This story came to us and it just hit us hard.”
Aiden Frazer worked at the Eddie Bush arena last summer as a student. In August 2022, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in his left femur, the same type of rare bone cancer as Terry Fox.
Glenda Frazer, Aiden’s mom, told CollingwoodToday this week that her family has been blown away by the outpouring of support.
“The hockey community never fails. The kindness and generosity is just unbelievable,” said Glenda. “It’s overwhelming. (Aiden) is a fighter. He’s trying to keep as positive as possible and he’s doing a really good job.”
“We live in an amazing community. We’ll support this event for the rest of our lives,” she said.
Aiden is currently at SickKids in Toronto receiving treatment, which has included removing part of his femur and knee, as well as chemotherapy.
Hollingshead says the Blues are hoping to raise $10,000 through the Hockey Battles Cancer event. The money will go toward the Frazer family’s expenses related to transporting Aiden to Toronto for treatment.
Any money raised above the $10,000 goal will be sent to support Hospice Georgian Triangle’s Campbell House.
The silent auction will be open during Saturday’s game and will close near the end of the third period. Many of the items in the auction were donated by local business owners and Blues executive members, as well as some donated by Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment.
“Everybody came together to try to make this successful,” said Hollinshead.
Items up for grabs include:
- special Hockey Battles Cancer game jerseys worn by Blues team members, which will be washed and signed
- two team-signed Hockey Battles Cancer jerseys
- NHL alumni signed jersey
- current Toronto Maple Leaf player-signed memorabilia
- an autographed Darryl Sittler stick
- gift baskets
- gift cards to various restaurants
The online version of the auction is open now, here.
“Anything we can raise... it just shows the Collingwood Blues are helping everybody. We want the Blues to have a positive impact in this community,” said Hollinshead.
“In a small community, everybody should be involved and give back to each other,” she added.