Croley wins a trip for two to a 2025 Stanley Cup Final game and a $30,000 donation in his honor to the Warrior for Life Fund.

“I’ve been doing this for 12 years,” he said, “and the most important thing for me is just every now and then [to] just say ‘Thank you’ every now and then, when you make a difference in somebody’s life, you get a personal letter from them back, and that’s what keeps me going. But this is meaningful. This kind of caps all that off for me and says, ‘OK, people are recognizing what we do,’ and it just validates that we’re on the right path.”

The roots of the Warrior for Life Fund go back to Croley’s military service. He was assigned to SEAL teams for 26 years and is living through mental and physical effects of 12 deployments. He began playing hockey to alleviate loneliness and stress while he was stationed at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

"Hockey was one of the therapeutic tools that really helped me cope with life back here in the States," he told NHL.com in May 2024. "I learned the game late, and I saw the benefits, not just the companionship and camaraderie, but also the benefits from the cognitive health standpoint.

"I saw the results personally, and I just wanted to give others the same opportunity. ... A lot of guys are dealing with post-traumatic stress syndrome, a lot of guys are dealing with family situations, isolation. All the bad things, hockey kind of allowed us to open that up."

The Warrior for Life Fund fields hockey teams that play NHL and Boston Bruins alumni and other teams at events. The fund also has a developmental league and offers sled hockey.

“Ryan has done so much, and he has done this with his leadership by example,” said Jon Lauder, a retired U.S. Marines colonel who is a Warrior for Life ambassador. “He does it not because he wants anything in return. He had a great military career, he’s working in industry. This is his way to really continue to serve.”