Tina Eggers holds a photo of her son Tristen Ray while stand alongside her husband and Tristen’s stepfather, Troy, near where she and her wheelchair-bound son would watch Janesville Jets hockey games. Tristen was born with cerebral palsy and died in 2022. The Jets will honor Tristen Ray and his family before their game with a plaque presentation and the naming of an accessibility ramp to the stands in Tristen’s honor.

Tina Eggers holds a photo of her son Tristen Ray while stand alongside her husband and Tristen’s stepfather, Troy, near where she and her wheelchair-bound son would watch Janesville Jets hockey game. Tristen was born with cerebral palsy and passed away in 2022. The Jets will honor Tristen Ray and his family before their game with a plaque presentation and the naming of an accessibility ramp to the stands in Tristen’s honor.

Tina Eggers holds a photo of her son Tristen Ray while stand alongside her husband and Tristen’s stepfather, Troy, near where she and her wheelchair-bound son would watch Janesville Jets hockey games. Tristen was born with cerebral palsy and died in 2022. The Jets will honor Tristen Ray and his family before their game with a plaque presentation and the naming of an accessibility ramp to the stands in Tristen’s honor.

Tina Eggers holds a photo of her son Tristen Ray while stand alongside her husband and Tristen’s stepfather, Troy, near where she and her wheelchair-bound son would watch Janesville Jets hockey game. Tristen was born with cerebral palsy and passed away in 2022. The Jets will honor Tristen Ray and his family before their game with a plaque presentation and the naming of an accessibility ramp to the stands in Tristen’s honor.

JANESVILLE — One of Tristen Ray’s joys of life was attending Janesville Jets hockey games.

Born with cerebral palsy, Tristen was confined to a wheelchair. And while his appearances in public sometimes brought stares and comments, he kept smiling.

“Tristen was about showing compassion even when so many showed him none,” his mother, Tina Egger said. “Tristen was created by God to be a true warrior; an example of what it is to be a true servant.”

“Never accepting pity but always rising above the stares and the whispers.”

The Jets will honor Tristen and his family before their game against Midwest Division-leading Wisconsin on Saturday, March 13, at the Janesville Ice Arena. During a pregame ceremony, the Jets will present a plaque and name a ramp to the stands in Tristen’s honor.

The plaque reads: “Tristen was an inspiration to all Jets players and fans. His warm-hearted hugs and infectious smile would light up the rink. Tristen you will be fondly remembered.”

Brad Stepan, the Jets vice president of business development and operations, said the honor is well deserved.

“We’re really excited about honoring Tristen,” Stepan said. “He was a great fan of the Jets, and we want to make sure he is remembered.”

Tina will address the crowd prior to the game alongside her husband, Troy. Tristen’s nephew, Carter Malsch, will drop the puck for a celebration faceoff.

Tina has become an advocate for special needs persons in Janesville. She said she is grateful for all the great times Jets president, founder and managing partner Bill McCoshen and the team provided her son.

But she feels more could be done to make the ice arena and other local public facilities more handicapped accessible.

“They are naming that ramp—which is great, I am honored—but nobody as far as handicapped people are allowed to even use that ramp,” Egger said.

“The whole ice arena is not set up for our disabled community,” Egger said, adding the same goes for several other public facilities in Janesville. “We have bus stops that don’t even have cement. They have to park on the grass with electric wheelchairs.”

Stepan said the Jets don’t have much choice with the limitations the ice arena, constructed in 1974, provides.

“In the current facility, it comes down to space availability,” Stepan said.

That will change when the Jets move into the proposed Woodman’s Center. The new facility received a huge boost this week when Gov. Tony Evers said $15 million was included in his proposed state capital budget to help construct the facility.

“The new facility will be much more equipped for handicapped accessible,” Stepan said.

The Jets hope to play games there in the 2024-25 season.

“We may have to start the season in the old facility,” Stepan said. “But right now, that’s the plan.”

Egger, who works in marketing, hopes to raise awareness of the need for better facilities for special needs individuals.

“There is a whole other community out there — our special needs, our disabled community,” Egger said. “Janesville prides itself on taking care of that community, but they are not.”

Egger said she learned a lot from Tristen.

“He was an amazing, amazing person,” she said. “Our society should have looked past his inability to walk, talk or act ‘normal’ and looked to see the perfect person that he was created to be.”

Now she hopes to be the leader in helping others like Tristen get the facilities they need to enjoy life.

Get the latest news, sports, weather and more delivered right to your inbox.

To view our latest eEdition, click the image on the left.

Choose from a variety of newsletters delivered right to your inbox.

Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.

Check your email for details.

Invalid password or account does not exist

Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.

An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account.

Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.

A receipt was sent to your email.