Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/118963
much the only thing he had." Indeed, for Cody, who was part of the New Jersey Colonials team that won USA Hockey's 12-Under Tier I National Championship in 2011 before moving on to the Little Flyers, hockey was an important link to normalcy as he found himself living in a hotel with his family and going to school at a Greek Orthodox church. "I wanted to try to keep some consistency so that he didn't get lost in the midst of all this devastation," Pegi said. "It was important that our routine stayed the same. We were able to maintain our same routine with a few added challenges, like not having a kitchen and having to cook 'creatively' and still eat nutritiously so he could still give it 110 percent at his practices and such. It's been very interesting." "Interesting" is certainly one word for it, but from Cody's perspective, it's also been a great success. He's maintained his status as a high honors student in school (his grade average has never dropped below a 93), and he was selected to represent the Little Flyers at this year's AYHL All-Star game at Quinnipiac University. "I try to keep eyes on my priorities, school and hockey, and try to not really focus on what happened," Cody said. "I still get to do what I love to do." Of course, as his mom notes, Cody wouldn't have been able to stay involved without the help of his Little Flyers teammates and their families, who took turns hosting Cody in their homes in the weeks following the storm. "I have to say that we couldn't have done it without them," Pegi said. "They're an amazing bunch of people. They adopted us at Christmastime as their adopted family for donations, and they were able to help me financially and make it more possible so that Cody didn't miss because of everything that did occur with the storm." The reality is that there's a lot more work to be done before true normalcy can be restored and the effects of Sandy can be consigned to memories. However, as that work continues, the hockey community, from NHL teams and players to youth coaches, families and players, from all over the Tri-State area has done what families do: they've stuck together through the most trying of times. N Elliot Olshansky is a freelance writer based out of Hartsdale, N.Y. 'War' Restores More Than Community Coffers What started as a simple idea, a charity hockey game to raise money and supplies for the local food bank, did much more than that. It raised the spirits of a community hard hit by Hurricane Sandy. Either way, what was labeled as the "War to Restore NJ" was an impressive outpouring of support from the local hockey community as more than 2,200 hockey fans packed Mennen Sports Arena in Morristown, N.J., on Nov. 16 to watch the New Jersey Devils alumni take on the coaches from the N.J. Colonials travel program. It was like a barn raising " except we were raising money so people could return to their homes," said Dede McMenamy, the president of the N.J. Colonials program. The proceeds from the event went to benefit local charities such as the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund and The Interfaith Food Pantry of Morris County. With the NHL in the midst of a lockout, the event received a huge boost from the Devils' head coach Pete DeBoer and his wife Susan. But help came from every direction as the generosity of the hockey community was on full display. "It was just amazing the amount of people who came forward to help," McMenamy said. Among the Devils alumni to lace up the skates were fan favorites Ken Daneyko, John MacLean, Sergei Brylin, Grant Marshall and Bruce Driver. They had all they could handle from Colonials coaches, many of whom played for Div. I or III collegiate programs and other top leagues. In the end, the final tally on the scoreboard was irrelevant compared to the outpouring of support from the local community as the event raised more than $27,000, and 3,562 pounds of food for the Interfaith Food Pantry. — Harry Thompson USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM april/May. 2013 19