Youth teams from New Jersey and Long Island, upset the NHL won’t be holding a Winter Classic this year, will be holding their own game to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy in Central Park on December 23.
Hockey equipment maker CCM read about the 8 year olds wanting to hold their own outdoor game and struggling with how to get ice and pay for it in a small news item in the New York Post. CCM offered to assume the cost of the game, give a new stick to each player and to match funds if the children were willing to raise money for victims of the hurricane. However Lasker Rink is now donating the ice time, so all money will go to Help USA’s Hurricane Sandy fund.
Glen Thornborough, the chief marketing officer of CCM Hockey envisions his company potentially supporting something similar in the future, potentially growing it into an annual event.
“If we can be part of these kind of initiatives where kids get to play outside, and get back to the grass roots of what hockey is all about, it’s fun for us to play in that territory,” Thornborough said. “It makes a difference with the kids, and obviously with the charity side of it. Growing the game is one of the responsibilities that we have as a company, because it is a fantastic sport, and we want as many people to partake in it as possible.”
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