SoHi, Homer hockey programs raise money for Big Lake Rec Center

When it came to Big Lake Lions Community Rec Center, the Soldotna hockey program was in a giving mood Friday at the Kevin Bell Arena in Homer. When it came to goals, though, the Stars were downright stingy.

The Stars topped Homer 4-0 in a Railbelt Conference game that was put together to raise money for the Big Lake Rec Center.

Soldotna and Homer had been scheduled to play this game Tuesday, but the Nov. 30 earthquake changed that.

The earthquake canceled a tournament for the Stars that was to take place at the Big Lake Rec Center and also ended up scratching a pair of games Homer was supposed to play this weekend in Anchorage.

Instead, the booster clubs from the two programs got together and decided to move up the game to Friday. Ice would be donated, as would the time of the referees. The gate would go to the Big Lake Rec Center, which is doing fundraising on gofundme.com.

The Friday game raised more than $1,000 for the center. Not including the Soldotna-Homer donation, the center had raised about $3,500 of its $75,000 goal as of Friday night.

“Hockey is like one big family,” Homer coach Steve Nevak told the Homer News. “… We have a rink, especially in our own division, that gets damaged where the kids can’t play, you know, that affects everyone.”

Nevak gave credit to everyone involved in making the game together.

“I like the overall message that it sends,” Nevak told the Homer News. “Because these kids are going to grow up and hopefully have kids of their own that play hockey, and it just continues that trend of what the hockey community and culture is all about.”