They’ve only been here a few days but are already on the ice at LECOM. With the extreme heat, coaches are keeping them indoors during peak temperatures—but the kids are smiling, skating, and simply getting a break from everything going on back home.

Inside LECOM Sports Park, the sounds of skates and laughter drown out the thoughts of war thousands of miles away.

“Give them like three weeks of a break and just be kids and play hockey. It’s awesome,” said Brendan Sellan.

I spoke with former Erie Otters forward and current camp director Brendan Sellan. He says the goal is to give these kids comfort—and connection—while they’re far from home.

“Just hearing some of the stories that the kids have to bring, what they experienced, and kind of just giving them some comfort while they're here.”

The kids say, for them—it’s not all about the hockey.

“The people and the American experience. Everything,” one player said.

“'Cause this life is different—and the adaptation of the airport, like we are tired; adaptation of the people, language, with these rules they have,” said Serhii, a Ukrainian player.

One of the biggest challenges? The heat. Most of these players have never felt temperatures like this before.

“I mean, here are extreme weathers. We don’t have such cold winters or such hot summers,” one player said.

“The humidity levels are extremely high up here, and the sun—it’s extremely hot. I mean, I stayed only a bit in the sun, and I got sunburned,” another player said.