St. Cloud Crush Inspired By Olympian’s Heartfelt Message Before Section Title

The St. Cloud Crush beat Fergus Falls 5-2 on Thursday night in the Section 6A girls hockey final to earn the team's first-ever trip to the state tournament.

Before the game, the team received an inspirational video from former St. Cloud hockey player (and Olympian) Anne Span (Schleper), who played for the (then) Icebreakers before graduating in 2008.

The video was shared on Facebook by the St. Cloud Crush girls hockey account.

FACEBOOK: 

"Hey everyone this is Anne Span, some of you might know me as Anne Schleper. Coach Mike reached out to me today and told me that you guys have your section championship game tonight... that is so exciting! I am extremely proud of you guys and I know that you are going to do great.

 

When I was thinking about what to share with you guys today, the thing that came to mind is just 'do... your... job.' Everyone brings something different and a different skill set to the team. You might be the calmness on the team, you might be the grit on the team, you might bring the speed or you might bring the toughness, you might be the goal scorer or the goal-stopper.

 

Whatever it is, hone into that and just do your job and come together as a team and I KNOW you guys will be successful. I am extremely excited for you guys."

 

Schleper went on to present her silver medal from the 2014 Winter Olympics, adding that it reminds her of all the hard work that went into winning it.

"Work hard," Schleper said. "Work harder than anyone else on the ice tonight, and work harder than anyone else if you have a dream."

The Crush will play at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul on February 18th, with their opponent to be determined this weekend.