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Community Corner

Local Hockey Fans Suit Up to Help Out

In its third year, charity hockey game raises funds for youngsters in St. Jude Knights Hockey Club.

While the Blackhawks are making their final push toward the playoffs and ultimately a second Stanley Cup in so many years, Dave Hanley of Oak Forest and his friends got together to play a different kind of hockey on Saturday, March 26 at the in Orland Park: the third annual Puck-Off charity hockey game.

What started as a pick-up game for fun and some laughs has evolved into something bigger. Hanley, along with the event's organizers Curtis and Liz Grigas (Oak Forest) decided to use the game as an opportunity to raise money for a worthy cause. Last year they donated the proceeds to the Blackhawks charities, but this time they wanted to go in a different direction.

“There are plenty of worthwhile causes out there, but rather than choosing a multi-million dollar charity we wanted to make a bigger impact on a local level,” said Hanley.

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In that spirit, they chose to set up a one-time scholarship through the St. Jude Knights Hockey Club in Crestwood. The scholarship will be awarded privately to a St. Jude player whose family is in financial hardship and might not otherwise be able to afford to play hockey.

The two teams (White vs. Black) squared off over three 24-minute periods, with line changes every two minutes. Each team consisted of three lines (A, B, and C) which set up to accommodate the varying levels of hockey/skating experience. It was a back and forth affair, but on the shoulders of game MVP Johnny Bauml’s four goals, the White team came away with a 9-6 victory.

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“Some of the A-line players played hockey in college, including Curtis (Grigas) who played for four years at and it showed out there. But everyone had a great time,” said Hanley after the game.

Apart from the action on the ice there was a split-the-pot and a shoot the puck raffle, where two adults and two kids got the chance to shoot for gift cards in between periods. Fat Sam’s of Lockport donated some Blackhawks memorabilia for the big raffle, including the signed jerseys of Dustin Byfuglien, Dave Bolland, and Bobby Hull.

“Fat Sam’s gets a lot of Hawks players in there and when they heard about what we were doing they were more than happy to donate the stuff for the raffle,” said Liz Grigas.

Any successful charitable effort needs support from the community, and in addition to Fat Sam’s, stepped in to sponsor the event. On top of supplying the ice time for the game, they also hosted the post-game banquet.

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