Fundraiser for NHL Reporter Jessi Pierce and Her 3 Kids Raises More Than $115,000 After They Die in House Fire
Fundraiser for NHL Reporter Jessi Pierce and Her 3 Kids Raises More Than $115,000 After They Die in House Fire
Anna Lazarus CaplanMon, March 23, 2026 at 5:02 PM UTC
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Jessi Pierce and her children, Cayden, Avery and HudsonCredit: Jessi Pierce/X -
A GoFundMe has been started for veteran sportswriter Jessi Pierce and her children, who died in a house fire over the weekend
Pierce, a longtime hockey writer, and her three children, Hudson, 8, Cayden, 6, and Avery, 4, died in the fire at their home in White Bear Lake, Minn.
Mike Hinrichs, Pierce's husband and the children's father, was out of town when the tragedy occurred
A fundraiser for Jessi Pierce’s husband has raised more than $115,000 after the deaths of the NHL reporter and their three children.
Mike Hinrichs lost his 37-year-old wife, their two sons, Hudson, 8, and Cayden, 6, and daughter Avery, 4, in an early morning house fire on Saturday, March 21 in White Bear Lake, Minn.
Hinrichs was out of town on a work trip when the tragedy occurred, according to digital news site Bring Me the News.
In the fundraiser, organizer Diana Johnson-Salvador described Jessi — a longtime hockey writer and podcaster — as having a “larger-than-life personality.”
Credit: Jessi Pierce/Instagram
“She was devoted to her family, going above and beyond to create many moments of joy and everlasting memories,” Johnson-Salvador wrote.
Proceeds from the GoFundMe — which has a goal of reaching $140,000 in donations — will cover funeral expenses and provide financial support for the family, she added.
One day before they lost their lives, Pierce posted pictures of the children enjoying a day out, eating ice cream and other treats on a sunny Minnesota afternoon.
The evening before, the veteran sportswriter was in the press box covering the Minnesota Wild for NHL.com, penning what would be her final game story.
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Firefighters were called to the family’s home at approximately 5:30 a.m. on Saturday after neighbors called 911 to report smoke coming from the roof.
The home was fully engulfed in flames when first responders arrived, and Pierce, the children and their dog were pronounced dead at the scene, NBC Minneapolis affiliate KARE-TV reported.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, authorities said.
Now, as a community rises to support Hinrichs, Pierce’s friends and colleagues are remembering her for her bright smile and enthusiasm for the sport of hockey — and life itself.“Jessi was like another big sister to me,” Pierce’s Bardown Beauties podcast co-host Kirsten Krull said on social media. “She had a confidence and a way of being able to talk to anyone that I envied. She had an unmatched work ethic and a huge heart. Any time I needed help, needed to rant, or needed someone she was there without hesitation. Most importantly, she was the best mom and loved her kids and family fiercely.”
On Saturday, when the Wild took on the Dallas Stars, Pierce’s absence was felt.“It was surreal to work during a hockey game while all were so saddened and with an empty seat in her usual spot,” The Athletic reporters Michael Russo and Joe Smith shared in a tribute to their late colleague.
And the athletes whom she covered are also absorbing the sudden hit of her death.
“I think she’d be speechless at how big a legacy she left behind,” Wild emergency goaltender Connor Beaupre, who sat next to Pierce at every home game, told The Athletic. “She was always so grateful that she got to work the jobs she did, even the tiniest one-off stories that sometimes didn’t pay anything, but she put everything she had into them.
He added, “She made such an incredible impact on so many people, whether she worked with them forever or just interacted with them once on Twitter. We lost such a good one."
on People
Source: “AOL Sports”
