Helena Bighorns family creates scholarship fund honoring devoted fan Steve Johnston

What began as a tribute to a devoted fan has become a way to ease the price of playing junior hockey in Helena. The Steve Johnston Memorial and Scholarship Fund now helps a Helena Bighorns player each year with team fees that can total about $7,000 before sticks, skates, travel and other costs are added in.

Steve Johnston was part of the Bighorns’ regular crowd at Steed Arena for years. He was a season-ticket holder who rarely missed a game and would rearrange plans to make sure he got to the rink. After he was diagnosed with cancer, that loyalty stayed visible: while he was being treated in Salt Lake City, he kept a Bighorn plushie with him and came back to the rink whenever he was able.

Johnston, whose full name was Steven Craig Johnston, died at age 72 on February 28, 2024, after a long battle with cancer. His obituary says he died peacefully in his sleep and lists a Helena service on March 16, 2024. When he died, the team answered his support with a gesture that carried as much meaning as any scoreline, with players attending his funeral in uniform.

That connection is now built into the scholarship itself. The fund has already awarded four scholarships, and each year one player is also named the Steve Johnston Memorial Fund Player of the Year, a recognition chosen by teammates for leadership and character. The result is more than a one-time memorial. It is a lasting structure that keeps Johnston’s name tied to the locker room, the stands and the next wave of players coming through Helena.

The timing matters for families in Lewis and Clark County because junior hockey is expensive even before the season starts. The Bighorns play at Steed Arena in Helena, where the team is listed as a 2024 Fraser Cup champion and a long-running presence in the North American 3 Hockey League’s Frontier Division. In that setting, the fund does more than honor one fan. It shows how a hockey community can step in like an extended family, helping turn affection for a local fixture into direct financial support for players who need it.