Florida Everblades fans know of the impressive performances their trio gave last week in the ECHL All-Star game. From team captain Kevin Baker’s hat trick third period, to David Leggio earning the win for his shutout period of goaltending, Blades players dominated the game.

Most fans don’t know that there was a fourth star that night.

You could call him the unsung hero, the man with the equipment plan, or the “guy who sharpens their skates.” Whatever he is called, he is an important cog that keeps the Everblades a smooth, dominant hockey team, both at home and on the road.

His name is Jason Macdonald and, yes, he is the guy who sharpens their skates, plus a whole lot more.

“Socks, laces, sticks, skates, you name it,” he said while making repairs to a pair of skates.

In a nutshell, it involves everything in, on and around the locker room and the players.

“I’m especially picky about the locker room. I like to keep a clean locker room,” Macdonald said.

Needless to say he is busy.

“On home games, my day starts at 6:30 a.m. and I’m normally the last one to leave,” he said.

Macdonald’s honor at being an All-Star was exactly that – an honor.

Players and coaches are nominated to the All-Star game by both the media and the public. Trainers and equipment managers are elected by their peers to represent their team and the league.

“It was a great honor to be there on behalf of Mr. (Craig) Brush and the Everblades,” he said, continuing to get skates ready for the team’s road trip to South Carolina and Gwinnett. “I consider myself to be very lucky that Mr. Brush brought me here. The All-Star game was a good experience. In a sense, it was nice to go and work with other people for a while.”

“Jason is very, very professional,” said Everblades coach Malcolm Cameron. “I have worked with some excellent equipment managers over the years and Jason is definitely right at the top of the heap. He is very good at what he does. He takes pride in the locker room, he takes pride in the appearances of the players and making sure they look their best.”

The Blades (29-9-2) skate Friday against the second-place South Carolina Stingrays (21-15-5), then travel to Gwinnett (18-18-4) Saturday.

n Slap Shots: Cameron installed a new tactic in practice this week.

“We have been simulating game conditions by practicing hard for 20 minutes, take a quick five-minute break, then back at it and so on,” he said.

The reason? The Blades’ inconsistent play in the first period. Saturday’s two-goal first period was the first this season at Germain Arena.

Southwest Floridians everywhere again showed why they are some of the most charitable in the state when they helped the Everblades raise more than $26,000 for three different charities through jersey auctions earlier this month.

Last Saturday’s game featured a postgame auction of game-worn “Beach Night” jerseys. The jerseys featured a special patch saluting slain officer Andrew Widman, with proceeds going to his family.

In all, 22 jerseys fetched $21,621 with $12,000 donated to Officer Widman’s family and $9,621 to the Deb Kelsey Fund for underprivileged children.

Carolina Hurricanes NHL jerseys, with an Autism Speaks patch, drew $4,500 in for the Southwest Florida Autism Speaks chapter.