"Through my children, I understand it's tough when you're on deployment and then you come home and the people you were so close to are no longer near you," Ferrell said. "It's no different than what we do as a hockey team in the regular season. When it's over, you long for the structure, camaraderie and the friendships that you've built together. There are a lot of parallels between our world and their world, it's just the stakes are a lot different. For someone like myself, to have an opportunity to even be on the same sheet of ice as the veterans in the Warrior program by running a practice, it's a complete honor. You can't thank them enough."
Buff Burkel, a retired United States Air Force colonel who has been stationed all over the world during 27-plus years of service, said she is amazed at the amount of progress the team has made since practices began.
"To watch the improvement over the last couple of months is powerful," Burkel said. "To see guys that have never skated before get out there and get after it, it's really cool. You get to spend an hour on the ice with these guys, and I'll tell you, this program has probably saved people's lives by giving them something to look forward to."