There's hockey somewhere
NHLers came together in Chicago to play in a charity game that raised more
than $300,000.
CHICAGO -- On Friday night, a handful of NHL players got together in
Chicago and made a huge difference.
A number of current and former Blackhawks have been working out
together in Chicago during the NHL lockout, and current San Jose
Sharks forward Adam Burish talked some former teammates into putting a
game together.
Played at the Allstate Arena in suburban Rosemont, the "Champs for
Charity" game was strictly a word-of-mouth and social media marketed
event.
At the press conference announcing the event, Burish sat with Patrick
Sharp, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Brian Campbell. The goal was
to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities by putting
available members of the 2010 Stanley Cup Champion team (with some
other former Hawks) against players from around the NHL.
The final rosters were impressive.
"Team Chicago" boasted forwards Toews, Kane, Sharp, Burish, Andrew
Ladd, Troy Brouwer, Jake Dowell, Jamal Mayers and Craig Adams,
defensemen Campbell, James Wisniewski, Jim Vandermeer and Joe Corvo (a
Chicago native) with Craig Anderson between the pipes. Major league
pitcher Ryan Dempster, who has a charity of his own with roots in
Chicago from his time with the Cubs, coached the Chicago team.
"Team World" included talent from all over the league. Their group of
defensemen was impressive, with Kimmo Timonen wearing the "C."
Joining him on the blueline were Ryan Suter, Alex Goligoski and Tom
Gilbert. At forward, the World team featured Bobby Ryan, Jordan Staal,
current Blackhawks Daniel Carcillo, Ville Leino, Jared Boll, Shawn
Thornton, Antti Miettinen, Mike Brown and Gregory Campbell.
Minnesota's Niklas Backstrom was in net. The World team was coached by
Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould.
The game offered great entertainment. There were a number of
choreographed goal celebrations. Toews "bowled" a glove into teammates
who fell like pins, the world team performed the group canoe move, and
Burish attempted the celebration from the end of "Slapshot" (he
stopped the striptease at a family-friendly t-shirt, but the sweater
and pads were thrown).
Any penalties called in the game resulted in a penalty shot; with only
four defensemen on each roster, time in the penalty box wasn't much of
an option. When the opportunity presented itself, Gould let Backstrom
take a penalty shot for the world.
Yes, he scored on Anderson.
Late in the third period, Carcillo jumped into the Chicago bench and
fought Dempster, who wore a tweed jacket he told the events emcee was
a tribute to Don Cherry.
The evening was filled with entertaining hockey and smiles from the
players, but the ultimate winner of the night was the charity. Nearly
12,000 fans attended the game, which concluded with Burish presenting
a check for $323,500 to the Ronald McDonald House Charities.
NHLPA head Donald Fehr was in attendance, leaving early in the third
period.
