Student-led charity hockey game brings together Queen’s medical students, local doctors, and the Kingston community
Since its launch in 2023, QMed Fights Cancer has raised over $300,000 through a charity hockey game.
Queen’s Medical School is preparing for the 4th annual Queen’s Med Fights Cancer Charity Hockey Game (QMed Fights Cancer). The game will be hosted on March 7 at Slush Puppie place, where med students will face off against local Kingston physicians and doctors on the ice. After the game, there will be an after-party hosted at the Grizzly Grill.
QMed Fights Cancer began in 2023 and has raised over 300,000 dollars with the help of the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS). All money raised goes directly to Cancer research. This year’s goal is to raise $50,000, with the current amount raised just over $6,000.
The initial creation of QMed Fights Cancer began with Geordie Maguire, HealthSci ’25.
In an interview with The Journal, Jaryd Te, HealthSci ’26, vice chancellor of the QMed Fights Cancer leadership team, shared that Maguire was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2022. This diagnosis inspired Maguire to create the annual hockey game to raise money and spread awareness for cancer research.
“Hockey was always something that was close to his [Maguire’s] heart, a big passion for him, and when he received that diagnosis, the one thing that he could think of to kind of help rally people together and maybe bring more awareness to cancer was start this charity hockey game,” Te said.
Maguire had a long background in hockey, including playing for Team Canada U18 and the Western Hockey League, on a path possibly to the National Hockey League (NHL), before the cancer diagnoses, according to Te.
The event is organized by students, primarily from the Queen’s School of Medicine, with the recent addition of Health Sciences undergraduates. The organizing team includes around 20 members across several sub-teams responsible for game-day logistics, marketing and communications, sponsorships, fundraising, graphic design, and post-event planning, Te shared. He also shared that QMed Fights Cancer has partnered with the CCS since 2024, which matches every dollar raised at the event.
“They [CCS] are crucial for the running of our events. So, they graciously match every donation that’s made to our fundraiser. So, whether that’s $1 or $1,000, they’re going to match that,” Te said.
While Te noted he wasn’t involved in the original partnership process between QMed Fights Cancer and the CCS, he credits the Maguire and original members for establishing the relationship early in the campaign’s development.
This year’s event introduces a new donation structure. Through QMed Fights Cancer fundraising pages, donors can choose to support the overall campaign, a specific team (students or doctors), or an individual player. Te explained this new fundraising effort is to cultivate competition on and off the ice.
“We wanted to cultivate a sense of competition off the ice. So, you can see which team has fundraised more, and as we get closer to the day of the game, hopefully those totals keep going up and […] fosters that sense of competition and sense of fun,” Te explained.
The QMed Fights Cancer team designed the hockey game to look and feel similar to an NHL game, including three periods, prizes, and light show performances between the periods.
According to Te, the event’s a unifying moment for Queen’s Med students, especially as upper-year students are often dispersed across the country during clinical rotations, the game gives the community a chance to come together.
“It’s the one chance in the year where all four years of Queen’s Medicine students can get together, you know, enjoy each other’s company, come together for a good cause, and have fun,” Te said.
Canadian Cancer Society, Cancer fundraiser, QMeD
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