Monsters Goalies Join October Saves Initiative
Oct 3, 2019Each save a Cleveland Monsters goalie makes during the month of October will be helping their team win while supporting breast cancer research through a national initiative called ‘October Saves’.
Founded in 2014 by the Ashburn Xtreme Hockey Club in Ashburn, VA, October Saves gives goalies the chance to raise money with how they play the game during the nationally-recognized Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Participants’ friends and family can pledge an any amount of money per save to be applied to the total amount of saves their goalie makes through October with an additional option to also donate a flat fee towards any goalie. October Saves was blown away with the amount of money raised in the program’s first year and have just continued to grow. Heading into their sixth year, October Saves has logged over 90,000 saves totaling over $800,000.
Last year, 700 goaltenders from all 50 states and Canadian several provinces participated in the program with Cleveland Monsters net-minders Brad Thiessen, Matiss Kivlenieks and Veini Vehvilainen now joining the cause. At the time of publication, the state of Ohio was ranked seventh in the United States for fundraising this season with New Jersey, New York and Ontario leading nationally each with over $10,000 in funds raised.
“I think it’s awesome that kids at a young age are interested in trying to make a difference for people in the world,” said Thiessen. “Being able to do it through hockey is a great avenue for that.”
This season, the Monsters will be looking to help push Ohio up in the rankings and encourage local hockey teams to do the same. The top three youth or high school goalies in Northeast Ohio will receive four free tickets to a Monsters game and a postgame meet-and-greet with one of Cleveland’s goalies.
In addition to supporting a great cause, goalies who raise money will earn the chance to win prizes from October Saves which include hats, helmet stickers and jerseys with a grand prize of a custom designed helmet for the biggest fundraiser.
With all the support October Saves has been receiving, the foundation expects the grand total of monies raised since the program’s start to exceed one million dollars by the end of this year. The Monsters are excited help October Saves reach that goal with the knowledge that last season, the Monsters’ three goalies stopped 279 combined shots during the first month of the campaign. The Monsters Community Foundation will be helping to grow that amount with a pledge of $10 for each save a Monsters goalie makes throughout the month.
Check out the Monsters’ pages and join the October Saves movement:
https://octobersaves.org/goalie/bthiessen/
https://octobersaves.org/goalie/vvehvilainen/
https://octobersaves.org/goalie/mkivlenieks/