The story of the Pittsburgh Warriors

In the fall of 2018, Pittsburgh veterans formed Pittsburgh Warriors Hockey so disabled veterans could heal through the game. September 18 is the day the IRS recognized the new nonprofit, and that October it became a 501(c)(3).

The first trip in the club archive is the 2018 Warrior Classic in Las Vegas. The next fall the team went back, October 3–6, 2019. A photograph from that weekend shows players with the event sign. That same year they skated a charity game against the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.

On March 9, 2020, VFW magazine published “Healing Through Hockey.” The piece profiles the Warriors as a USA Hockey Warrior Program team skating at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, and it describes travel support through an affiliation with the Pittsburgh Penguins via the Hockey Sticks Together Foundation.

On April 19, 2022, JP Kelly resigned as president.

On May 6, 2022, after JP Kelly’s resignation, Chairman Sam Johnson led the vote naming Dave Jackel president, Dwayne Hinkle vice president, and Aidan Kitching general manager.

On March 11 and 12, 2023, the Warriors opened Hunt Armory for the first Defenders Cup, hosted with the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation. Pittsburgh iced Black, White, and Gold. Veterans Hockey United, the Buffalo Sabres Warriors, Capital Beltway Warriors, USA Warriors, and Flower City Warriors came to play.

On the morning of June 15, 2024, Sam Johnson, Adam Rosenwald, Josh Howe, and treasurer Logan Rose rolled out on the fourth Healing Ride.

On October 20, 2024, at Hunt Armory, the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County honored the Warriors with a proclamation.

Five Warriors rode 50 miles a day, June 5–9, 2026, from Confluence, Pennsylvania, to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

In September 2026 the Warriors brought home a seventh national title from the Warrior Classic in Utica.