Support Veterans During 5th Annual Blattner Warrior Showcase

(KNSI) – Blattner Company is ready to lace its skates up for the fifth annual Warrior Showcase.

Two games against the Minnesota Warriors are set for Bernicks Pepsi Arena at the Scheels Athletic Complex in Sartell on February 15th. The event is a fundraiser for the Warriors, a group Lee Stevens is a member of. He explains the goal of the veterans organization.

“The Minnesota Warriors was started, I believe it was in 2010, out of the Twin Cities, and it was from Andy Qualy, who was a combat veteran who was injured. Him and a couple other guys thought, ‘Hey, let’s use hockey to help the guys coming back.’ To use hockey as that therapy.”

Stevens works for Blattner as a building services manager. He is appreciative of the support he gets from the company to help put it on. He admits the event has been more successful than he could have possibly imagined, and it was immediate.

“We thought we’d try to raise a few bucks, and we ended up raising almost $30,000. So, it far exceeded our expectations. We had, I think, close to 700 folks on the first year, and it’s kind of ebbed and flowed since then, but again, very well received and we get a lot of support.”

Stevens jokes that the Blattner and Warriors teams know each other well now, so expect some chirping and highly competitive exhibition matches.

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