Blues attend "White Out for Mandi" game at Yale, in honour of Jaden Schwartz's sister

Blues winger Jaden Schwartz lost his sister Mandi - who played for Yale University at the time - to a battle with Leukaemia in the Spring of 2011. She was 23-years-old. 

Since Mandi's passing in 2011, Yale's women's hockey team has held an annual and extraordinarily successful bone marrow drive in her honour. They've also staged an annual "White Out for Mandi" game, which raises money and awareness of the need for Bone Marrow donors.

While every year's event is special, this year Jaden Schwartz and his Blues teammates were able to attend the festivities. What follows is a selection of photos and quotes from the event...

During the day before the event, the Blues held practice on Yale's ice sheet. Here are the members of the St. Louis Blues posing for a photo with the members of Yale's women's hockey team:

[Courtesy Yale Athletics and Blues.nhl.com]

Jaden poses with Mandi's #17 Yale sweater (which hangs perpetually in Yale's locker room)

[Courtesy Yale Athletics and Blues.nhl.com]

Here's the entire Schwartz clan with Mandi's #17 sweater:

[Courtesy Yale Athletics and Blues.nhl.com]

Prior to the game Jaden dropped the puck for a ceremonial face-off:

Here are Blues players in the stands at the game:

Of participating in the event as a team, Blues defenseman Ian Cole said: "This is what teammates do. We're a family, and we support our family. That's all there is to it."

Added Blues bench boss Ken Hitchcock, "I think the players were honored to be part of this...just being a small part of this is going to go a long way."

Speaking with The Courant, Schwartz elaborated on what it meant to him to be at the event surrounded by his teammates. ""This is really special. I've never been here before. I've got mixed feelings right now, a lot of emotions. You're excited. You're a little down at the same time. Mandi spent an awful lot of time here. It means a lot to have all the guys with me."

Finally at the end of what must've been a tough day emotionally, Schwartz thanked everybody for their support on Twitter:

Meanwhile the Mandi Schwartz Foundation fund raised more than $30,000:

To learn more or donate to the Mandi Schwartz Foundation Fund, click here. To register as a bone marrow donor or for more information, visit bethematch.org (USA) or the Canadian Blood Services website (Canada).