North American Goalies Prepare to Take on Cancer by Participating in the October Saves Goalie Challenge

Anyone who follows hockey realizes that a team’s goalies make a big difference on the ice. Well, October is almost here, and that means goalies all over North American will be making a huge difference off the ice as well.

For more than 10 years now, North American goalies at all levels have come together to participate in a fundraiser that benefits the ongoing fight against breast cancer. Those of us who hang around ice rinks on most fall and winter weekends know that it’s just about time for the October Saves Goalie Challenge. 

With Oct. 1 and Breast Cancer Awareness Month on the horizon, goalies at a rink near you most likely are gearing up to assist the fight against a terrible disease that has touched so many of our lives.

October Saves has generated nearly $4.2 million since officially becoming a non-profit organization in 2017, and as the Oct. 1 start to the 2025 campaign looms, the organization hopes to exceed last year's high-water fundraising mark of $680,000. 

“We always knew that goalies were heroes,” proclaims the organizations website. “The October Saves Goalie Challenge harnesses the power of hockey goalies from mites to pros to fight cancer. Every save made during October becomes a weapon in the battle against this devastating disease by providing vital funding for cancer research and support. As if stopping a puck wasn’t already awesome, now your saves can save lives too.”

For anyone reading about October Saves for the first time, there’s still plenty of time get involved despite the Oct. 1 start date. Any money raised is helpful, so players and families who want to participate can sign up today, tomorrow or at any point during the month.

Those interested in participating can register and find out more by CLICKING HERE.  There are gateways to portals for both American and Canadian goalies to sign up at that link.

“Canada made a big increase last year after our recent partnership with the Canadian Cancer Society,” October Saves Founder Lara Hopewell said. They already have a lot of momentum this year, too. We are really excited about their trajectory.”

The list of beneficiaries has grown since the program’s beginning, but it has remained consistent over the past few years.

“We have the same larger beneficiaries as we have in the past, including the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Inova Schar Cancer, Life with Cancer, Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania (CHOP) and the Canadian Cancer Society,” Hopewell said. “We also make smaller donations. If goalies from a specific state raise $50,000, we make a $5,000 donation to a cancer charity within their state, and if a state’s goalies raise $100,000 or more, we make a $10,000 donation to a cancer charity within their state. This is a great way to get cancer fighting dollars into the state where our goalies are working so hard to help us raise funds.”

Not long ago, October Saves added the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in New England as one of the program’s beneficiaries, which “really motivated our goalies in New England,” Hopewell said, and for the 2023 fundraiser, the Canadian Cancer Society was added to the beneficiary list.

“All funds in Canada go directly to CCS, and no Canadian-generated funds will leave the country. This is awesome, because CCS can put the funds to work all over Canada.”

The Farber Institute’s Jimmy Fund is well known throughout New England and spurred participation in that region, and the Canadian Cancer Society joined other similar programs in benefitting from the efforts of North American hockey goalies.

The implementation of an “All Saves, One Goal” philosophy during the season in which many North American rinks and leagues were shut down because of the COVID pandemic also helped spike participation among goalies in hockey hotbeds such as New England and Minnesota where prep and high school teams don’t start playing games until November. That change helped the annual fundraising total to soar past the $600,000 mark and has become the program’s ongoing mantra. 

Because of the “All Saves, One Goal” philosophy, any goaltender who makes any saves anywhere during the month of October can participate and raise money for the fight against breast cancer. Saves made in practices and games count. Goalies who make saves playing ball hockey can use them to raise money. Even saves made playing video games have been counted, and goalies who play other sports such as field hockey, soccer and lacrosse can participate.

In 2020, many teams were not allowed to practice or play games in October because of local restrictions, and amateur hockey was pretty much shut down in Canada. But where there's a will, there's a way, and all it took was a little creativity to maintain the momentum October Saves had built to that point.

Thanks to the implementation of the "All Saves, One Goal" campaign that year, October Saves still was able to raise more than $400,000 before going on to eclipse the $600,000 mark in 2021.

“We still say "All Saves, One Goal," so we welcome all goalies to make saves however they can,” Hopewell said. “The Goalie Guild is supporting our efforts again this year by making donations directly to goalies who share their efforts on social media, which is really fun.”

The Goalie Guild has partnered with October Saves almost since Day 1. It is a nonprofit organization that was created in 2009 and provides a wide range of educational resources and financial aid for hockey goalies. 

In the past, the Goalie Guild has sponsored fundraising events and programs such as online video-game fundraisers and “Top 10 Tuesdays,” through which a weekly prize package is awarded to top fundraisers. This year, the organization also is making direct donations to participating goalies who share their October Saves fundraising pages with the Goalie Guild via social media.

“This is great for a number of reasons,” Goalie Guild Founder Justin Goldman said on an Instagram post. “First of all, it helps goalies reach their personal fundraising totals and goals, but also it helps us promote some of the great stories that are involved in this event. I think that’s amazing, because one of the things I learned when I was younger was that my skills as a goaltender are not just for own glory and my own benefit but also are to serve my team and the community I play for.”

Initially founded in 2014 with all 28 of the goalies in the Ashburn (Va.) Xtreme youth hockey program participating, October Saves expanded into Canada seven years ago and has continued growing since then. That first year, Ashburn’s goalies raised $32,000 on their own.

The numbers improved substantially in year two, with NHL goaltending coach Mitch Korn donating a spot in one of his goalie camps as a prize, and eventually the Chesapeake Bay Hockey League, which includes pretty much every Tier 2 youth travel program in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, began supporting the program. Then USA Hockey got on board.

The addition of new prizes for the top fundraisers annually, along with the ability for clubs to support and promote their goalies’ fundraising efforts, also has helped grow the numbers. The addition of the Farber Institute's Jimmy Fund as a beneficiary provided a boost as well. 

"We know that many of our fundraisers in New England are personally inspired to fundraise for the Jimmy Fund," Hopewell said several years ago when the Dana Farber Cancer Institute was added to the October Saves list of beneficiaries.

With the program’s roots tied to the DMV area and so many goalies and organizations there participating, it’s no wonder that region produced the program’s top fundraiser every year. Every year until last year, that is. 

“Last year was the first year our top fundraiser didn't come from the DMV,” Hopewell said. “Our top two fundraising goalies came from New Jersey. Number one was Ayrton Whitehouse, with $22,551 raised, and right there in second place was Charlie Curtiss at $22,390. They really duked it out for first place, but ultimately became buddies even though they play for different clubs. The New Jersey Devils recognized them both during their Hockey Fights Cancer Night. New Jersey was also our top fundraising state last year. They came on strong last year, so let's see if they can come out on top this year. Based on registrations and pledges we’ve received so far, Massachusetts is currently beating New Jersey.”

In recent years, National Hockey League teams and goalies have gotten involved to help promote October Saves. In addition to the Devils, the Washington Capitals have invited the top 10 fundraisers in the DMV to their Hockey Fights Cancer Night that has included a meet and greet with their goalies after the game, and Philadelphia Flyers also have invited some top of the top Pennsylvania fundraisers to their Hockey Fight Cancer Night for a special fan experience. 

Whitehouse, last year’s top fundraiser, plays for the Mercer Chiefs, one of the youth hockey organizations that supports and promotes their goalies’ fundraising efforts. Clubs can create their own fundraising pages on the October Saves website to promote the program with links to each of their participating goalies’ individual pages.

Keeping the program fresh by adding creative twists and new prizes each year – while also making it simple and easy for goalies to participate – have been key components of October Saves' continued growth and success. The program provides a fully functional website that allows participants to promote their efforts and manages their donations. 

Allowing goalies to form or be part of fundraising team so they can raise money as a group also has made it easier for players to get involved. Teams are given the ability to register and add their registered goalies, with the October Saves website tracking the group’s performance.

“Clubs and organizations can create a team by visiting OctoberSaves.org,” Hopewell said. “They then can send an invite out to their goalies through our fundraising platform, which is very easy. If a club or organization would like to support their individual goalies who are participating, we would be honored if they would consider sending out an email to their club sharing the event and asking for support for their goalies. It's also fun when rinks that are home to participating goalies put up our pink brick-wall banner and track their goalies’ fundraising efforts. That way, the whole hockey community can cheer on their goalies. The banner and all the resources they need can be found on the resources page of our website.”

That team approach grew in popularity in 2023 and continues to be pushed this year. Two years ago, a new prize was introduced for the top-fundraising team; Mitch Korn visited them for a “Fireside Chat” event.

“The fireside chat has been a huge success and a very special experience for the team winner,” Hopewell said. “Team Ion from Virginia won the team prize of the Mitch Korn Fireside Chat for the second time last year. Will they make it a three-peat, or will a new team take the prize?”

That chat is held in the team’s community, and team members are allowed to invite whoever they want, including coaches, fellow club goalies, hockey teammates and family members.

“Mitch is such an incredible wealth of knowledge and a super entertaining speaker, so this is a great opportunity for a hockey community,” Hopewell said. “A team can be goalies from a club, a bunch of friends, an organization or even a goalie school. Any group of goalies who wants to fight cancer together can form a team. It's always more fun and effective to raise funds together.”

Korn has been one of the program’s biggest supporters for many years. Three years ago, October Saves renamed the Mitch Korn Camp Scholarship it awards annually in honor of Charlie Capalbo, a young goalie who lost his fight with cancer.

“He fought cancer multiple times,” Hopewell recalled, “and was a dedicated goalie who worked Mitch’s camps. Mitch grew very close to the family, and we were excited to offer the scholarship in his name.”

This year, the top five fundraisers in each country once again will be awarded brand new goalie gear, including a mask, skates, catching glove, blocker, stick and leg pads. And as usual, there will be a variety of milestone fundraising prizes goalies can earn as their fundraising dollars increase. A free week at the well-known Korn Camp for goalies once again will be raffled off; all goalies who raise at least $1,700 are entered into the raffle.

We all are very much aware that the North American hockey community is undefeated when it comes together in support of a common cause, and the number of touching stories the October Saves program brings to light every year – and the fervor with which hockey families rally behind such an important cause – makes the program special and unique.

“This year, our big focus is on sharing our goalies’ stories via our social media platforms, because we want people to meet these heroes,” Hopewell said. “We've already started sharing stories, and we will continue sharing them all month. All participating goalies are invited to make a video and share their stories with us so we can help them raise money and brag about their amazing efforts.”

One of the great stories generated by the October Saves Goalie Challenge has been that of Lucas Epstein, the program’s all-time leading fundraiser at $78,000. This will be his sixth year participating, and his goal is to surpass the $100,000 mark. He is a 2012 birthyear playing for the Woodbridge Wolfpack in New Jersey.

“I think it’s really important to help raise money for cancer research. I want to do everything I can to help find a cure for kids’ cancer and for women’s cancer,” Lucas said in a story posted online when he was just 7 years old.   

Hopewell can recite one heartwarming story after another like many hockey fans quote their favorite players’ statistics.

“We have another goalie named Hunter Redden from Massachusetts , who is participating again this year,” she said. “His mom is a breast cancer survivor, and his stepmom is currently fighting stage 4 cancer. “He is participating to honor them both.

“Another great story is Mikey Sitler, who plays for the Binghamton University Bearcats. He is participating for the sixth year in honor of his former coach, who passed from cancer last year. We just posted his story this week.”

The October Saves Goalie Challenge runs throughout the month of October, and there still is time to sign up and join the goalies all over North America who continue the fight against this terrible disease.

Anyone interested in participating can register and find out more by CLICKING HERE.