Utah Hockey Club -Fans write letters to Connor Ingram in the Player Assistance Program

Markings and colored paper were spread over tables in the magazine Delta Center.

Utah Hockey Club -Fans gathered around and started writing.

They were all personal messages for Connor Ingram, the UHC goalkeeper who shared on Sunday from the player tool to concentrate on his mental health after losing his mother, Joni, to breast cancer in December. Although Ingram is not available to the team while he receives care, the Utah community wanted him to know that they were there to support him.

The initiative letters to INGY started by Fan Jackie Johnson. She first spread the word of the Second-Intermission Meetup on Reddit and Facebook on Wednesday, before she brought it to X where it got grip. Then Fan Brandon Merrill, who runs the @utah_hockey (Utah Hockey Club) account, announced the mission.

I spoke [Brandon] And he was as if I would let some of the local podcasts know and then it suddenly blew up, Johnson said. People in Utah love Ingram.

We take care of ours. Just as they take care of their own on the ice, we want to take care of them from the ice, Merrill said. The team talks about it in interviews, they are like a large family. But the fan base is also like that.

Merrills letter to Ingram thanked him for inspiring others to concentrate on their mental health.

Ingram has been in favor of the subject for years. After entering the player tool for the first time in 2021, while he was part of the Nashville Predators organization, Ingram opened his obsessive-compulsive disorder and fighting with depression. He earned the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, who was awarded annually to the NHL player who is best an example of perseverance, sportiness and dedication to hockey in May 2024 after an impressive season with the Arizona Coyotes.

The past three years has been about mental health and getting yourself better through therapy and in those ways. For me that was such an important message, Merrill said. He is just a huge inspiration for me and many other men who may be a bit timid to take our mental health seriously. I thought it was a good cause.

The same sentiment was felt by Johnson, who was initially attracted by Ingram because he was so open and honest about his journey with mental health. It is something that comes close to home for Johnson, she said.

If he found out that he was back in the Player Assistance Program, it will be emotional for me. I was like wow, this is an opportunity for us to show him that we love him and that we have his back, said Johnson. He is a big, cool guy and he is still [gets help]. It gives other large, cool guys the feeling that they can do it and that little girls like me can do it.

It was also not only letters made for Ingram on Wednesday. Fan Justin Noertker brought a few signed pucks, together with metal Sharpies for other fans to write down their names and messages.

The idea that I could do everything to give Connor something to think about for the rest of his life, it was a no-brainer to do something small that might be big for him, Noertker said. We cannot be more grateful this team, so we will always come together for our teammates.

For fans who could not attend Wednesday matches, Johnson set up an e -mail, letterstoingy@gmail.comWhat people can send their messages to. They also plant a few letters before putting everything together in a decorated box to continue the team to Ingram.

Head coach Andr Tourigny was asked about the fan project after Wednesday 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks and he took a break when considering what the Utah community had put together for one of his players.

That gives me shivers. That is unreal, Tourigny said. That is another reason why it was so proud to play for those fans. I could not be more grateful for that. That is incredible. I didn't know that, but a compliment to them.

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