By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- Massena Police Department and US Border Patrol teams will square off in Clarkson University's Cheel Arena in Potsdam in a charity game to benefit a local cancer patients.

The teams will hit the ice Feb. 11 with a 6:30 p.m. puck drop.

Proceeds from the game will go to help Katie Smith, a Potsdam woman who is fighting breast cancer. She and her husband, Potsdam Police officer John Smith, have two young children.

“We do this every year. It’s a chance for us, the whole county really, we’ll have guys from the whole county playing, to come together for our brothers in blue,” said Jayden Pernice, a member of Massena Police and one of the event coordinators.

Admission to the game will be $5 and free for ages 12 and under. There will also be a 50/50 drawing, chuck-a-puck and raffle tickets for a rifle drawing in March.

Last year’s game raised money for Stephanie McKeel, a Massena Central senior who was hospitalized in Boston awaiting a double-lung transplant. They usually play the yearly charity game against Massena Fire Department at Massena Arena, but this year are playing in Potsdam.

“This is for a Potsdam family, so we figured we would do it in Potsdam to draw a bigger crowd. She’s from Ogdensburg, so it’s closer to her friends from home. Cheel was willing to donate the ice, so we tried to do a little something different,” Pernice said.

There will be at least a dozen officers playing from agencies including St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, Norfolk Police, St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police, Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service and a St. Lawrence County Court officer.

In addition to the game, there will be a jamboree for Smith on Saturday, Feb. 4. More details about that event are here.