Mandi Jocelyn Schwartz (February 3, 1988 – April 3, 2011) was a Canadian ice hockey player with the Yale Bulldogs.
She was a three time Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Hockey All-Academic, and played 73 consecutive games with the team before being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in December 2008.
Prior to joining Yale University, Schwartz had played minor hockey for Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Saskatchewan.
Her family and Yale University have continued to support drives to identify bone marrow donors after her death.
Schwartz played minor hockey at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, and served as team captain.
[3] At the time she was forced to leave her team due to her illness, she had played in 73 consecutive games for the Yale Bulldogs.
[4] She started treatment for her cancer in December 2008 and was able to briefly return to school and began practicing with the hockey team again in January 2010.
In the hopes of finding a match, bone marrow drives were organized at Yale University and at several locations throughout Canada.
[5] These bone marrow drives did not result in a match for Schwartz, but doctors found a suitable donor from umbilical cord blood.
Brothers Jaden and Rylan both played for the Colorado College men's ice hockey team.
In high school, she briefly dated Guillaume Lauzon, drummer for The Mahones and The Brains, before meeting Kaylem Prefontaine to whom she would get engaged to.
Each head coach nominates a student-athlete, and a committee made up of school administrators has the task of selecting the recipient.