UGA Ice Dawgs get new member: Team wins one for 9-year-old Alaina

SAVANNAH, Ga. - The Georgia Men's Hockey Team has recently found inspiration, something that can be hard to come by. That is all thanks to a 9-year-old girl named Alaina Rushing.

Her presence at the Savannah Hockey Classic this year helped the Ice Dawgs win their 10th Savannah Classic Cup.

"We were like, ‘We're going to win this game for Alaina,’" said Georgia Hockey Head Coach John Camp. "We're going to win this cup for Alaina."

Every year, Camp makes sure his team visits the Children's Hospital of Savannah before playing in the Classic, but this year's visit wasn't like the others. Waiting to meet them was a passionate hockey fan who had been to Ice Dawgs games in the past, and absolutely loved it.

"Out of all of the sports I’ve taken her to, hockey just draws to her, because of the simple fact that they fight, and she apparently likes the fights," said Alaina's mother, Mary Powell.

Alaina herself is currently in the biggest fight of her life. In June 2023, she started complaining about knee pain. A visit to the hospital and some tests revealed an abnormality; high-grade bone cancer.

"Her tumor was larger than the salvage surgery, so they did have to remove a portion of her leg," said Powell.

While receiving her chemotherapy treatments, Alaina learned that the Ice Dawgs were coming to her hospital, and despite having a day off from treatments, she made Powell drive 45 minutes so she could come face to face with her favorite team.

"She just grabbed our hearts," said camp. "She came in with a walker and she was just glowing. She just struck all of us."

So, the Ice Dawgs extended an invitation. Not only for Alaina to attend their games in person, but to be a part of the team.

She read the starting lineup in the locker room and even taught the team a celebration dance that they performed after scoring their first goal.

When the final buzzer went off, and the game was won, Alaina was at the center of it all.

"Our goalie immediately went behind the net to where Alaina was on the glass, and went right to her," Camp said. "She did more for us than anything we could do for her."

Since the tournament, Alaina’s health has declined. Due to the type of chemotherapy she's receiving, her blood system has bottomed out, forcing doctors to give her morphine and blood treatments, but Alaina is proving to be a fighter. And using a gift from her new friends to battle.

"I was like, 'You were their good luck charm over the weekend,’ and she hasn't taken off the jersey they gave her," Powell said. "So, every time we take a bath, we put it back on. She's like, 'They're my good luck charm now.'"

"Them doing that. I know it does a lot to the players, but it means so much to us parents, because we see our children cry, we see them in pain, and we see them hurt every day. To see five minutes of brightness from just an outsider to bring happiness to these kids means more to us than it does to anybody."

Alaina’s family has set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for her treatment and recovery efforts.