#CAPALBOSTRONG: High school hockey game raises money for pediatric cancer research
While Stormac, of Westport vs Fairfield co-op ice hockey teams came head to head at Sacred Heart Martire Family Arena. The game also honored and remembered the legacy of Fairfield goalie Charlie Capalbo, who died in 2022 from cancer.
Fairfield County hockey players laced up their skates to ice out kids cancer.
Stormac, of Westport, and the Fairfield co-op ice hockey teams dropped the puck for a good cause during 'Capalbo Strong Night' at Sacred Heart University's Martire Family Arena.
The game honored the legacy of the late Charlie Capalbo, a former Fairfield goalie who died in 2022 after a heartbreaking five-year battle with leukemia and lymphoma.
"We want people to remember Charlie," mother Jenny Capalbo says, "and what a great person he was."
Proceeds from ticket sales, and a raffle of a No. 30 Capalbo jersey, benefitted the Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Boston Children’s Hospital.
"It's more than just a hockey game," said Anthony Capalbo, Charlie's father. "Everything makes a difference. Even if it's a little bit, everything makes a difference."
The game also hit close to home for Fairfield head coach Mike Warhola, a pediatric cancer survivor.
"When I was 7, I was diagnosed," Warhola says.
He credits the game of hockey for helping him get through a tough time.
"Hockey players and coaches that came to visit me in the hospital," Warhola says. "To be that inspiration for me, brought me to where I am now."
Charlie's parents say the Capalbo Memorial Fund has helped raise nearly $1 million for cancer research over the past nine years.
Organizers of Wednesday night's event are hoping to inspire more people to donate.
"Look into see if you can be a match," Jon Dilley, of the Fairfield Boys Ice Hockey Booster Club says. "If you can get behind what Capalbo Strong is doing and help Dana Farber look for cures for pediatric cancers and other types of cancers, I think that's an invaluable takeaway.
