Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette The Leftover Heat’s Robert Kotala puts a shot on net in the first period of the annual Pigs-N-Heat benefit hockey game at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena on Saturday.

HOUGHTON — Saturday night, the MacInnes Student Ice Arena was home to one of the most important hockey nights of the season. The annual Pigs-N-Heat hockey game might not carry the excitement of a WCHA title game or a Michigan Tech-Northern Michigan game, but the benefit game draws the attention of the community for the money it raises.

The Pigs-N-Heat game raises money for the Copper County Police and Fire Relief Fund. In 2018, the fund paid out more $23,000 to members of the community who suffered through events such as the Father’s Day flood.

For the players, the knowledge that the funds go to such worthy causes as neighbors in need makes the game even more special.

“It’s crucial,” said Marc Pomroy, a skater with Team Police. “People band together. This provides a good relief fund for times like that, for natural disasters or when somebody is in a bad situation. They’re able to provide some help.”

The game features players from a variety of ages and skill levels. The value of playing in the benefit game is not lost on the younger generation.

“This organization does a lot for the community,” said Dylan Boberg, a skater with Team Fire. “I know they forked out a good chunk of money and a lot of their time too. These people put endless hours in.”

The evening opened with a mites hockey mini-game before the “B” teams took to the ice for a 20-minute mini-game of their own.

Between the two games, a special citizenship award was handed out to Eric Gierke. Gierke had come across a woman on the day of the flood trying to recover items from her car. He pulled her from her vehicle just before the road below it washed away, along with the car.

In the “B” game, Andy Kotala and Brian Ross helped the Leftover Heat jump out to a 2-0 lead just four minutes in.

Just under a minute after Ross’ goal, Ryan LaBerge cut the lead in half for the Law Hogs. The game remained that way until LaBerge struck a second time on a defensive miscue with 7:42 left in the game.

Ross had two late scoring chances from point blank range that Darrick Coponen fought off to keep the game at 2-2.

Between the “B” game and the “A” game, more awards were handed out, including some distinguished service awards to Hans Tolkkinen and Ty Harju of Team Police and Angela Mile (who was not playing) for their efforts to attempts to help the family of Thatcher Markham during the Father’s Day flood.

In the second period, which also served as the first period of the “A” game, saw the team trade goals with the Police skating away with a 5-4 lead. Pomroy scored one of the goals by finding a soft area in the Fire defense, getting a lead pass and skating in alone for a breakaway tally.

Pomroy added two more goals in the second half of the “A” game in the first five minutes to complete a hat trick.

Besides playing for a good cause, Pomroy could not help but smile about helping his team to a 10-5 victory and some bragging rights.

“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “There’s a little bit of rivalry, but overall, everybody wants to be safe, have fun and provide a little bit of entertainment for the fans.”

In the second half, Fire could only pick up one goal, the second of the night for Rob Bohlson. Boberg had several good looks but could not beat Police goaltender Ruohonen. Despite the scoring struggles, he, like many of his teammates and opponents, admitted just getting to play a game at the MacInnes in front of front of cheering fans and the Michigan Tech Pep Band was a lot of fun.

“It’s tough,” said Boberg. “Even (when) losing, it’s still a good time.”