The Quad City Blues High School Hockey team held their 5th annual benefit hockey game in conjunction with Genesis Health System on January 25th at the River's Edge in Davenport. This year's theme for the event was "SLASH MS". This is a cause that is near and dear to the player's hearts as their head coach, Shane Lovdahl, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis this past year. The event consisted of a jersey auction, silent auction, raffle baskets, bake sale, and of course, a good old hockey game between the Quad City Blues and the Cedar Rapids Roughriders.
The Quad City Blues consists of 33 players from local area high schools from both sides of the river; Alleman, Assumption, Bettendorf, Central DeWitt, Davenport Central, Davenport North, Davenport West, Moline, North Scott, Pleasant Valley, Riverdale, Rivermont Collegiate, and United Township.
The team participates in the Mid-West High School Hockey League which includes teams from Kansas City, Lincoln, Omaha, Sioux City, Ames, Des Moines, Mason City, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Dubuque. Games are played from November to February with a final year end tournament in early March.
Former head coach, Nick White, initiated the first benefit game in 2010 in conjunction with Genesis to raise awareness for various causes. Pink at the Rink, The Beat Goes On, 5-4 Fighting Diabetes, and Stick it to Cancer have raised over $34,000 prior to this year's event, SLASH MS. The growth and success of these events are a direct result of the hard work and dedication of the Quad City Blues players and parents as well as the generous help of their title sponsor Genesis Health System. This past Friday (February 13th), the Quad City Blues presented a check for $9,138.97 to Ken Croken, Vice President, Corporate Communications, Marketing and Advocacy of Genesis Health System, representing this year's proceeds from the event.
The event in January concluded with a 6-3 victory by the Blues over Cedar Rapids!
