This week Topher and Jeff welcome Duante’ Abercrombie to the podcast. Recently nominated for the NHL’s Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award by the Washington Capitals, we talk to Duante’ about his incredible journey in our sport and his work with The Rising Stars Academy in the Washington D.C. area. The Rising Stars Academy was designed to provide minority hockey players with elite on-ice skill development and off-ice training geared toward problem-solving and handling some racist elements in a sport that remains predominantly white. In this episode we talk about: — Grassroots hockey and its importance to the health of our game — The importance of teaching kids the idea of community — Having the courage the be different AND SO MUCH MORE! Thank you to our sponsors GelStx, Train-Heroic, CuredNutrition, Helios Hockey, and IceHockeySystems.com - PLUS, our newest sponsor, NHL Sense Arena!  And thank you to our AMAZING LISTENERS; We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices