While Carley Allison is no longer with us, her legacy lives on in the Queen’s and Kingston communities in what has become an annual fundraising hockey game to support the battle against cancer.

The second annual Puck Cancer game will see the Queen’s Gaels men’s hockey team take on the McGill Redmen Saturday at 7:30 pm at the Memorial Centre, but it’s much more than a hockey game.

The inaugural game, organized by the hockey team last year, honoured Ms. Allison who had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer for a second time in her young life. She died on March 31.

The loss, however, fortified the Gaels and event organizers with the aim of carrying on Ms. Allison’s strength of personality and touching as many lives as they can, explains Jordan Coccimiglio (Artsci’17), a forward with the team.

“We really want to make this game a tradition here at Queen’s similar to the Carr-Harris Cup where something happens every year,” he says. “But we also want to make it an event for the entire Queen’s community, for everyone to come together for a good cause, get Carley’s name out there and raise as much money as possible to help change as many lives as we can.”

Last year a total of $10,000 was raised and the target is to reach that level again. Proceeds from the game go to the Carley's Angels Foundation and the Princess Margaret Foundation.

Beyond raising awareness and funds, Holly Mathias (Artsci'16), who is helping with marketing and communications for the game, also sees it as a good community building event.

“I think that with this game it goes to show you can help out in any capacity and that really encourages students because many people here have been affected by cancer, whether it’s touched a family member or friend,” she says. “So it’s about coming out to a game, supporting your school, but also supporting and honouring those who may have lost their lives or are still battling cancer, and even survived as well. It’s a good way to give back to the community.”

In a special addition this year, organizers have invited families from Kingston whose children have been diagnosed with cancer.

The game will also feature a number of fun activities and chances to win prizes.

Head coach Brett Gibson has donated a pair of tickets to an Ottawa Senators game that will be raffled off along with a Free Pizza for a Year coupon from Boston Pizza, while members of Carley’s Angels will be selling special necklaces. There also will be a paper airplane toss with the closest to the centre faceoff dot winning a pair of round-trip, business-class tickets to anywhere in Canada, donated by Air Canada. Adding to the fun, two trainers from the Gaels team have volunteered to be targets for a pie toss. For those who can't attend the game, donations will be accepted through Tilt.

For more, visit the Puck Cancer page on Facebook.