Stephen’s family, in partnership with the ACCHL are pleased to host the annual Stephen Russell Memorial Tournament. The yearly tournament serves as the official kick-off for the Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League season. This year’s event will be held in Charlotte, NC at Extreme Ice Center.

Teams from all over the East Coast come together to celebrate the game of hockey and proudly represent some of the most distinguished colleges in the region. What started as a four team regional event has grown into one of the largest tournaments of its kind in the country! 2019’s line up will include sixteen teams!

Stephen Russell was born in Newfoundland, Canada. He stepped on the ice and in the net for the first time at the age of twelve. Stephen was a proud member of the NC State Hockey Club from 2006-2009. He was passionate and intense about hockey, and as one teammate put it, “he would make the same effort to save the 200th shot in practice as he would in an OT shot in a crucial game.”

On July 4, 2009 the Wolfpack lost Stephen. At the time of his death, Stephen was a rising senior at NC State University where he was studying Political Science. As a goaltender for NC State’s Hockey team, Stephen loved the spirit of competition, the camaraderie of the team and the game of hockey.

The team retired his jersey in November 2009, one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon an athlete. His teammates and coaches felt he represented the best of the sport, both on and off the ice. We honor Stephen, and through our remembrance, we celebrate his impact and the game of hockey he loved so much. His legacy will live on through this tournament.