Seventeen games, 17 wins. It was an historic run for the Colorado Eagles, but it came to an end on Saturday night with a 4-1 loss to the South Carolina Stingrays. There was something good that came out of the loss, however.
An Eagles team that had given so much joy and hope to its fans over the franchise-record winning streak, saw the club, its corporate sponsors and its fans give hope to a young girl on Saturday night. Together, the Eagles family raised over $53,000 for Chelbi Holt, a 13-year-old from Northern Colorado who is now battling cancer for the second time in her young life. According to the Eagles, “All of the money raised will go directly to Chelbi and her family to help offset the mounting medical costs of her treatment.”
Rob Flick scored twice for the Stingrays, once to open the scoring in the first period and again in the third to stretch South Carolina’s lead to three goals. Luke Salazar gave the Eagles some hope with a tally at 14:12 in the third, but John Parker added an empty-net goal to keep the final margin at three. When you’re raising money for such an important cause, wins and losses don’t feel quite so big.
Despite the loss, Colorado remains in the top spot in the Western Conference with 83 points, two points ahead of the Toledo Walleye. A hot Allen Americans team is lurking the Mountain Division at 79 points. One interesting note, the Eagles’ win streak (17) was equal to the total wins on the season so far of their NHL affiliate, the Colorado Avalanche.
Featured Image Credit: Colorado Eagles, Standout Imagery