2022 Play For A Cure Exceeds Expectations
The long-awaited Play For A Cure Pro Am fundraising event exceeded everyone’s expectations.
After tallying all of the additional income from the event organizers are extremely excited to announce that they have netted $400,196.00. They could not be more grateful to their sponsors, players, volunteers, and committee for their continued support.
This two day event began with NHL Broadcaster Ron MacLean entertaining the crowd with his insightful wit and legendary storytelling. His interviews included three time Stanley Cup winner Tim Taylor, four time Stanley Cup Winner Mike Krushelynyski, NHL’s Hardest Shot legend Al Iafrate, a four time Stanley Cup Winner and NHL Hall of Famer, Paul Coffey. And finally, two time Olympic Silver medalist and five time world champion Megan Bozek was also on hand to provide some insight into her career.
The following morning players, sponsors and volunteers gathered at the Vollmer Complex in LaSalle where the players were treated like Pros! Change rooms were adorned with personalized custom jerseys, custom towels, skate guards and water bottles along with all the supplies found in a professional change room. A hot breakfast and lunch were provided by St Clair College catering and fresh hot coffee, tea and pastries were available all day provided by Tim Hortons. To ensure all athletes’ hydration needs were covered there was plenty of water, BioSteel, and Kingsville Beer on hand. There were over 75 volunteers who made certain that everything ran smoothly, including the refereeing, score keeping, clean up, food preparation, change room management and venue security.
One of the many highlights was seeing local hockey players compete in a shootout against two legendary NHL goalies; Michael Leighton and Marty Turco. Players were randomly selected to be on Team Turco or Team Leighton to shoot on the opposing goalie. By a narrow margin, Team Leighton prevailed.
In the final event of the two-day hockey extravaganza the top twenty-two fundraisers competed with and against NHL and Professional alumni hockey players. The Pro alumni roster included Adam Graves, Tim Taylor, Paul Coffey, Derian Hatcher, Michael Leighton, Megan Bozek, Rick Vaive, Dan Daoust, Nik Antropov, Mike Krushelnyski, Al Iafrate, Marty Turco, Aaron Ward and Tom Fergus.
Feedback from the event has been incredible; Adam Graves commented that he is “so proud to be part of such a well-organized event that contributes to cancer research. The impact of this event goes beyond the financial contribution and that is something to be proud of.” Rick Vaive stated that “it was the best charity tournament that he has been to in some time and that the funds raised were amazing for cancer research.”
Organizers say they wouldn’t be able to have this event without a long list of sponsors. All proceeds from the event go to the Cancer Research Collaboration Fund established in partnership with the WindsorEssex Community Foundation to support collaborative cancer research initiatives in our community.