Eagles giving back with latest Pot of Gold Night | TheAHL.com

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer

If it’s March in Colorado, there must be a Pot of Gold.

The Colorado Eagles host their annual Pot of Gold fundraiser tonight when they host Tucson. The event began in 2012 and has raised more than $700,000 to help families trying to manage the financial hardship that can come when a child is dealing with a medical condition.

This year’s recipient is 9-year-old Josh Mellon and his family, from Tinmath, Colo.

Josh has a rare neurological movement disorder, childhood-onset dystonia, that affects the body’s muscles and causes involuntary painful movements. Doctors diagnosed Josh with KMT2-B related dystonia, and only 39 cases are known to exist in the United States. His first signs appeared when he was 5, and he was unable to walk by age 7.

Deep brain stimulation, a two-step surgical process, implants electrodes into the brain and connects to a battery in the chest, but there is no known cure for the condition. It leads to difficulty with swallowing and eating as well as a variety of daily life issues. The Mellons took Josh to Texas for brain surgery as the state of Colorado does not have anyone specializing in the procedure. He will now need ongoing treatment that will involve going to Texas four to six times annually.

So there is a clear financial need for Mellon and his family, which includes mother April, father Justin, and older siblings Ashleigh and Abigail. But tonight is also about a night out at the rink, a chance to get away from the day-in, day-out stress for both patient and family that comes with serious medical conditions.

And the Eagles will be doing it in style for the Mellons and the team’s fans, donning specially designed Irish-themed jerseys for the game. Those jerseys feature a special themed logo as well as the initials of prior Pot of Gold recipients. Fans have been able to bid on those game-worn jerseys this week, and all proceeds will go straight to the Mellons. Fans can donate to the cause at the game or via the GoFundMe organized by the team.

Tonight’s game is also the Live on Social AHL Game of the Week, streaming free on FloHockey’s social platforms beginning at 9 ET/6 PT.

The night is a significant undertaking, but one that is fueled by a sense of friendly competition and camaraderie.

“It’s a joint effort,” Eagles executive vice president Gavin Riches says. “Everyone wants to try and raise as much money as they possibly can, and the entire community looks at it as, ‘Hey, we want to beat last year’s number because it’s for a great cause.’”

People today have so much competing for their time, money, and emotional energy, but the Eagles have been able to cut through that and connect their fans to this cause. To that end, the team’s video production director Reno Boyd and his team make it a priority to produce content that grabs fans’ attention. The team also links the fundraiser to St. Patrick’s Day – a popular theme night in many AHL markets – to further add to the event’s popularity and lighten the mood for a very serious subject.

“They’re tough stories, but we turn it into a gigantic celebration,” Riches said. “It’s not just about raising money at the game. It’s joy. It’s fun as the game goes along, and it brings it all together… a game, really compelling content and a community that wants to support those inside it.”

It’s also the recipients through the years, kids like Josh, who have made this event a special tradition. These children and their families are handling heavy, ongoing challenges. The physical pain, the medications, the procedures, the travel, the overall disruption – it would affect anyone at any age. They have to endure all of that for years.

“He’s just an awesome, awesome kid,” Riches said of Josh. “He has a smile on his face all the time. And I think his mom put it best: ‘You can’t have a bad day, because he never has a bad day.’

“That encapsulates him so well. He’s got physical challenges, for sure. But he deals with them with a smile. The time I’ve spent with him, it’s a blast.”

Rosters change, players come and go, but Colorado players have also connected with the event. Jayson Megna, T.J. Tynan, Jacob MacDonald and Calle Rosén all returned to the Eagles as free agents last summer, and they have stressed the night’s importance to the team’s newest members. So has head coach Aaron Schneekloth, who has been with the organization since 2006.

“They tell the stories about past kids,” Riches said. “It just feels very organic.”

The Eagles have built one of the top operations in the AHL off the ice, something that provides them with the ability to branch out with initiatives like the Pot of Gold fundraiser, Riches explains.

“It’s not all about the dollars and cents. It’s also about what we can get back, and we’re very fortunate to have that opportunity to say, ‘Hey, we can do things that don’t have to turn a profit. We can give back to the community because the community gives to us each and every night with incredible fan support.”

Blend that philosophy with buy-in from outside the organization, and families like the Mellons can gain some much-needed relief in a difficult time.

“It’s almost gone beyond just the team itself,” Riches said of Pot of Gold Night. “It’s the team, it’s the players, it’s the fans, it’s the corporate partners, it’s the community at large in Northern Colorado rallying behind these amazing families.”

On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.