Mason Bergh small on talk, big on action to aid local youth

(Photo by Casey B. Gibson)



If anything points to glaring generational disparities between Mason Bergh and post-millennials, it may be taste in literature.

The second-year Colorado College men’s hockey captain cites the Harry Potter series as his favorite book. He was 12 years old when the final installment of J.K. Rowling’s groundbreaking seven-part saga hit stores in 2007.

Nearly twice that age today, he admits that for all of his volunteerism with children, he has yet to meet anyone sharing that interest.

So much for theory-based conversations on how wizards might translate their quidditch skills to hockey, or at least broomball. But that will not threaten Bergh’s devotion to Colorado Springs-area youth, even as his window of time there diminishes.

This much is all but certain for the coming spring: Bergh will graduate, and something he played a small role in building will become reality.

May 19 is the big day for Bergh, whose off-ice legacy includes fundraising for a new Colorado Springs children’s hospital. Although no concrete date has been announced, the hospital’s opening remains on track for late spring. That time has been set since the building’s groundbreaking early in Bergh’s sophomore year.

Where he will physically be by that point is tougher to prognosticate. Bergh is blinking on the NCAA class of 2019’s free-agent radar. A repeat Hobey Baker candidate and 2019 Lowe’s Senior CLASS nominee, he has a professional pact within hooking distance.

Any of the NHL’s 31 organizations could sign him. Or he could easily latch on with a talent-starved lower-level or overseas squad. Of those scenarios, only a one- or two-way pact with Denver’s Colorado Avalanche or their AHL affiliate further north, the Colorado Eagles, could keep him remotely close to his alma mater.

Nonetheless, the Minnesota transplant pledges to keep Southern Colorado close to his heart. In an email to Pucks and Recreation, he offered, “In the future, even if it is not directly related to my professional life, I will always try to help children and continue to be involved in the Colorado Springs area.”

Bergh’s stinginess on substance when reached by this outlet may merely underscore his time’s premium status. As his Senior CLASS resume highlights, he has already secured three slots on the NCHC and national all-scholar teams.

(Photo by Casey B. Gibson)

He has never missed CC’s dean’s list, and is currently defending the Paul Markovich Award as his squad’s top student. He attained the latter while swelling his point tally from 24 in 2016-17 to 40 in 2017-18.

And then, over the offseason, he lent his presence to Colorado Springs for the up-and-coming hospital’s most touted fundraiser. Joining teammate Ben Israel and women’s soccer Tigers Rachael Martino and Jade Odom, he volunteered at the Climb for Courage. The annual race, which will return this June, entails trekking the staircases of the Air Force Academy’s Falcon Stadium.

Bergh was there for the climb’s fourth edition last June 23, the month’s penultimate Saturday. He spent the next week in metro New York as an-large invitee to the Rangers’ development camp.

Back to finish what he started with his studies, Bergh has yet to see the site of the new facility. But the testaments to his and hundreds of others’ involvement continue to glacially emerge.

This past Thursday, Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Twitter account announced more than 80 job vacancies for its Colorado Springs chapter. When it opens, the new base will be “The lone pediatric-only hospital in Southern Colorado.”

In the meantime, Bergh leads his fellow CC pucksters in visits to facilities serving the same purpose. Two days prior to Thanksgiving, the captain and four other Tigers toured the children’s ward of Penrose Hospital (whose namesake is the same as NCAA hockey’s coach-of-the-year award).

“The most rewarding part of participating in these events is the smile you can put on a kid’s face by just hanging out with them,” Bergh offered.

The same goes for when he can fill a shift for CC’s recurring Parents’ Night Out promotions. Through the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Tigers of each sport will entertain local children on campus on up to a quarterly basis for up to five hours at a time.

To date, Bergh says he has partaken in every Parents’ Night Out not overlapping with a team road trip. As with the hospital-oriented outings, “it is a way to reach out and be active with the children in the Colorado Springs region.”

“Understanding the position I am in and the impact I can make on a kid’s life is why I have a passion for working with children,” he added.

Ian Edmondson doubles as blueliner and breadline anchor at Canisius

Photo Credit: Joe Van Volkenburg

Ian Edmondson is at his Sunday best when the bridge to downtown Buffalo connects his leading and listening sides.

The former gets its fill in his role as captain of the Canisius College men’s hockey team and as a student spearhead in the campus ministry. But through the Jesuit school’s Sandwich Ministry, the week’s traditional day of rest yields a refreshing, active change of pace.

The Sandwich Ministry is geared toward feeding Buffalo’s impoverished or otherwise less fortunate residents. As Canisius’ community-service officer on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, Edmondson rose to a senior spot on the signature initiative.

This means overseeing a cluster of 15 students, with almost all of the personnel except Edmondson himself and graduate assistant Alex Tubridy changing each week. It also entails a dramatic turn of the page, punctuating the ever-busy college hockey weekend.

Between the first week of October and the start of March, the 2018-19 Golden Griffins have 12 regional Saturday games. That is, they are home at the HarborCenter or visiting crosstown rival Niagara or regional rival Rochester Institute of Technology.

Those are all close enough that Edmondson should have no trouble lending his presence to Sunday’s proceedings. It is always a timely diversion when he can make it.

“Participating actually helps you get away from your sport for a few hours and think about some of the bigger things in life,” he told Pucks and Recreation via phone this past week. “You kind of start facing a greater appreciation for your life.”

One moment almost did not grant Edmondson’s mind a thorough escape from hockey. During one mission when he was a junior, he came across a man ready to accept a beverage at the end of the line. Subsequent small talk began with queries as to the Golden Griffins’ season.

But then the man opened up about his employment struggles and the impact on his family. Dry eyes were all but a lost cause long before the parties dispersed.

“It got pretty emotional,” Edmondson recalled. “For him to share the troubles that he’s having with people that are caring for him, it was pretty moving.”

Coming to Canisius via Toronto, Edmondson brought comparable curriculum vitae of captaincies and community service. He frequented Habitat for Humanity projects with his family and joined fundraisers with his junior team, the St. Michael’s Buzzers. His four-year tenure with the Buzzers culminated with the “C” over his heart in 2014-15.

Upon bestowing the same responsibility to Edmondson this season, Griffins coach Trevor Large stated on the program’s website, in part, “Protecting our culture is everything.”

The broader Canisius culture leaves little separation between student, athlete and servant. Undergraduate enrollment sits barely below 2,600, and this year’s sports teams combine for 365 players.

That amounts to roughly 14 percent of the student body representing the brand in Division I competition. If the jocks are the true toast, one is rarely left in the dark from the stars’ radiant company.

“It’s all kind of part of the college experience,” Edmondson said. “At Canisius, student-athletes make up a big part of the school.”

Tubridy is anything but oblivious to the bonus that comes with spreading that celebrity wealth beyond campus. “Community members love to see college students with an interest in volunteer work,” he told Pucks and Rec via email. “Especially student-athletes, as they know how busy their schedules are.”

If no other aspects of the Canisius culture typify that notion, the Sandwich Ministry does. In any given week, the program’s one constant among student-ministers uses his SAAC connections to enlist eight representatives from a select sport. The rest of the roster consists of non-athletes pursuing required service hours, sometimes as part of a syllabus.

 

Photo courtesy of Canisius Athletics

 

The team convenes at 3 p.m in the campus chapel’s basement, where they devote 45 minutes to assembling the edibles. Ham or peanut butter and jelly are the common fillers, and cookies and hot chocolate are go-to side staples.

Tubridy says the average gathering awaiting the ministry ranges between 30 and 35, though Edmondson estimates 50. With that many recipients, the spread usually proves substantial enough to give everyone a variety pack of four sandwiches. Longer lines can hover around 75 locals, which still leaves an appreciable bounty to go around.

Beyond preparation in the chapel, 75 minutes typically take up the round bus trip and downtown distribution. At least a full hour is thus reserved for precious pleasantries.

Afterward, the bus doubles as the Sandwich Ministry locker room. Edmondson and Tubridy will trade feedback with the week’s team to inform their game plan going forward.

“There’s a lot of similarities in those two jobs,” Edmondson said of captaining the icers and orchestrating the meal drives. “You have to be very direct that there are certain expectations to be met. Making sure people are showing up on time and things run along smoothly.”

Naturally, out-of-state road trips on the hockey schedule will render Edmondson a healthy scratch on some Sundays. But he always makes a point of establishing the lineup and schedule for those on tap for Tubridy.

“This is an experience that many of these students could easily miss out on if not for Ian’s efforts to coordinate them,” Tubridy remarked.

In that sense, Large could have been speaking for the Sandwich Ministry when he prophesied Edmondson’s on-ice reliability.

“Ian will lead the way as captain,” Large stated in the press release unveiling the Canisius captains, “and he will lean on the rest of the team to lead when they are called upon.”

There is even a friendly gravy-drizzled stake for the hockey team. Edmondson is up for the 2019 Lower’s Senior CLASS Award, and his candidacy page alludes to the Golden Griffin Cup. The Canisius sports team that logs the most community-service hours in the academic year earns the bragging rights.

“Ever since my freshman year,” Edmondson said, “we’ve had a very strong push for being involved in the community.”

Then again, with the weekly enlistment of non-skating Griffins for the Sandwich Ministry, he helps his competitors as well. But it is all still in the name of Canisius, and Edmondson is expressly trying to uphold the standards of a man locals have called “Mr. Canisius.”

When Edmondson was a sophomore, senior associate campus minster Joe Van Volkenburg garnered the One Buffalo Community Award. The monthly prize bequeathed by Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula and yields a donation to a charity of the recipient’s choosing.

Before shifting his focus to local high schools, Van Volkenburg worked at Canisius, his alma mater, for almost a quarter-century. During his overlap with Edmondson, he oversaw the Sandwich Ministry and equivalent projects built on burritos and soup.

Edmondson joined fellow pucksters on Van Volkenburg’s shuttle to Buffalo soup kitchens, and learned from him to “be there mentally.” That aspect is the key to ensuring the volunteers nourish psyches as well as stomachs in need.

“This is important for these people’s lives,” Edmondson said. “You need to engage and talk with them. They may be going through a tougher time than you think.”