St. Cloud Veterans Celebrate Unique Tournament Experience In Tampa

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- A little known group of St. Cloud athletes has been selected to play in a special tournament this weekend. The Minnesota Warriors, St. Cloud Region, is a group of about 60 active Veterans. The group gets together about once a week to practice and plays games all over the state. The Warriors are heading to Tampa Bay on Friday to take part in the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series.

Team Captain John Hew Len says it's a privilege to be picked:

"It's a, you know, an experience that none of us have ever been able to have, and I don't know if we ever will, so we're really fortunate, really blessed, very grateful, and really excited to go down there."

Hew Len says the hardest part was picking the 15 players who get to go, as the team size is limited for the tournament.

Navy Federal Credit Union

How did the team get picked for the showcase?

The Warriors were selected based on an essay submitted by Hew Len. He says he shared how much the team means to everyone who is on it:

"The big thing I talked about was family and what this program has meant to so many guys. We have a guy on our team, he's 77 years old, Vietnam Vet, he comes down and he's smiling all the time and he's going to Tampa with us and the Warriors have changed his life and that just speaks to what, and he's not the only guy, there's a lot of guys, I'm one of them, without the Warriors I don't know where I'd be all my friends are Warriors."

The Warriors practice about once a week and play in games all around the state. They will get to play two games in Tampa on Saturday. Plus, they will attend a welcome banquet, have their pictures taken with the Stanley Cup, and attend a Tampa Bay Lightning game on Sunday.