Veterans play ice hockey for charity in Battle of the Brave

HUNTSVILLE – The Battle of the Brave, an exhibition ice hockey game played solely by U.S. military veterans, took place last Saturday at the Huntsville Ice Sports Center. The inaugural charitable event was a fundraiser for Still Serving Veterans.

Steve Dermer, an Army veteran and hockey player, founded Battle of the Brave, in part, because he noted that there have been numerous local charitable events for veterans without their involvement.

“I know that there are a lot of veterans that play hockey here. Wouldn’t it be great if the charity event is done by all veterans” he wondered. “The whole thing was just a nutty brainstorm.”

Dermer’s son, 20-yar-old Patrick, came up with the name and it stuck.

Two teams — Trigger Happy and Unconventional Warfare —squared off in what is shaping up to be an annual event. It could be expanded to a round-robin tournament with multiple teams next year.

“We’re going to do it again,” said Steve Smith, who along with his wife Kim owns Vali, a defense contracting firm that sponsored the event.

Added Dermer, “It’s going to get bigger.”

Smith and Dermer, longtime Army buddies who play hockey at the local rink, joined forces for Battle of the Brave. Chantay Coleman, an administrator at the ice center, welcomed the idea.

“There’s nothing like it in Huntsville,” she said. “We have a really tight-knit hockey community here and a lot of veterans. We knew it would be special.”

Indeed it was, notably for the players, organizers and more than 1,000 fans who showed up for the game and to bid on auctioned items. Dermer said by late Sunday more than $8,000 was raised for Still Serving Veterans with that number estimated to exceed $10,000 by the final tally later this week.

Still Serving Veterans assists disabled veterans and helps veterans navigate through their benefits.

Before the puck drop — featuring Smith dropping the puck at center ice between Dermer, who played for Trigger Happy, and Unconventional Warfare’s Joe McCallion — Lynn Collyar, a retired major general, addressed the crowd. “This represents the total forces and that’s fantastic to see,” he said, noting that player jerseys had patches representing the branches they served in. “Knowing that you’re playing with veterans makes it all that much more fun,” goaltender Chris Haury said.

For skater Chris Colavita, the biggest thrill was “seeing my family in the stands.”

Members of the Huntsville Havoc, including team mascots and announcer Clay Coleman, also played key roles in the event. Goaltenders Brian Wilson and Mike Robinson coached the teams while four skaters — Dominick Procopio, Benito Posa, Craig McCabe and Gio Procopio — served as referees.

Trigger Happy won the game 6-4, taking a 3-1 lead after the first period and a 5-2 lead through two. Tyler Bingham led Trigger Happy with two goals, his second coming on a breakaway in the middle frame. Teammate Nathan Weinland added a goal and an assist.

Also scoring for Trigger Happy were Phil Maynard, Stan Lozovsky and Patryk Tryburski with Mike Todd adding an assist.

Jon Farr fueled Unconventional Warfare offense with a hat trick, his second coming on a power play in the middle period. Colavita also scored and Ben Dailey picked up an assist.

On a lighter note, Dermer was sent to the penalty box for “working too hard,” resulting in Farr’s power play goal.

Rounding out the rosters were: Trigger Happy — Ed Byrne, Curran Chidester, Liza Chidester, Danny Berger, John Warnke, John Merson, Howard Blevins and Nick Lacy.

Unconventional Warfare — Mike Gonzalez, Rich Varna, Heather Ritter, Tom Petrini, Jeff Bachman, Daniel Thompson, Zach Naden, Josh Hall, Aja Henderson and Mike Alexander.