Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League

Estevan Bruins Bring In $50,000 With ‘Chase The Ace’ Fundraiser

Photo credit: Robert Godfrey/Lemon Wedge Marketing Group

It was a night full of anticipation, nervousness, excitement, and ecstasy at The Beef Bar on Saturday, May 15th as the winning card was pulled in the Certified Energy ‘Chase the Ace’ fundraiser for the Estevan Bruins!

With all 20,000 tickets sold out in Week 18 of the raffle, we knew that someone would be the lucky winner on Saturday night of the total progressive jackpot of $33,500! There were 35 cards remaining when the night began, with Wayne Evenson having his name drawn as the weekly winner of $3,761. Wayne would then have the first chance to pull the Ace of Spades from the deck of cards, but when Wayne was unsuccessful and pulled the 7 of diamonds, new names began being drawn to find our grand prize winner.

After eight other names were pulled, all unsuccessful in their search for the elusive Ace of Spades, the group of five guys (A/B Pumpmen) from Westmoreland Mining in Estevan had their lucky ticket pulled. Todd Brandow was in attendance at The Beef Bar to pull a card on behalf of the crew, and when Todd pulled the winning card he celebrated with his arms raised like a player who just scored a game-winning goal in overtime!

“Thank you so much! I just got done telling someone at The Beef that I just want my name called for a chance (to pick a card). It’s surreal!” wrote Todd on Facebook after the win.

After the win, Todd said the money will be evenly split between the five guys meaning each lucky winner will take home $6,700 each! Todd has been a longtime season ticket holder for the Estevan Bruins, and also purchased tickets in each week of the Certified Energy ‘Chase the Ace’ raffle.

“What an exciting night and what an amazing fundraiser this was for the Estevan Bruins!” expressed Danny Ewen, Director of Marketing & Operations for the club following the final draw.

“With every name pulled and every unsuccessful card drawn, you could feel the emotion in the crowd shifting from nervousness, to disappointment, to excitement, and finally to shock when the Ace of Spades finally appeared. We were grateful for such a great turnout on Saturday night, with hundreds of others watching the draw from home on Facebook and Instagram Live.” added Ewen.

The fundraiser has raised $50,000 for the Estevan Bruins throughout the duration of the raffle, with 50% of all ticket sales going towards the club. Over the 18 weeks, $20,000 was awarded and spread out to each of the weekly winners. The jackpot grew each week with 30% of ticket sales going into the total pot, and combined with the $3,500 seed money that was contributed by title sponsor Certified Energy Services, the grand prize of $33,500 was awarded to the A/B Pumpmen.

“On behalf of the Bruins’ organization, we can’t thank the community enough for their support of our fundraiser,” expressed Ewen. “With our season being cancelled earlier this year, being able to focus on a positive and exciting weekly event was a welcome change for both Bruins’ fans and our team alike. And the significant financial boost for our team’s bottom line during this time cannot be understated, as it has allowed our club to continue preparing for what we hope will be a return to normalcy with a 2021-22 regular season starting in the fall.”