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A subject that IMHO gets far too little publicity...many hockey players are very involved with the community, and the hockey media should give them more credit.
Brown, Kovalev, Nash singled out for charity work
Canwest News Service/Monday, May 04, 2009
Dustin Brown, Alexei Kovalev and Rick Nash may be stars with their National Hockey League teams, but they are also starring away from the rink as well.
The players were named Monday as the three finalists for the 11th annual NHL Foundation Player Award, which is awarded yearly to an NHL player "in recognition of his commitment and service to charities in his community."
The winner will be announced on June 18 in Las Vegas at the league's annual awards gala. A judging panel determined the three finalists from team nominations from each of the league's 30 teams. The NHL Foundation will donate $25,000 US to a charity of the winner's choice.
Brown, a fifth-year forward with the Los Angeles Kings, has partnered with KaBOOM, a non-profit organization which offers kids a place to play within walking distance. This past season, he donated $50 for each of his hits toward building a playground in his hometown of Ithaca, N.Y.
The 24-year-old right-winger is a spokesman for the Children's Cancer Research Fund, is a supporter of the Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, in addition to supporting all the Kings' community initiatives.
Kovalev, a veteran right-winger with the Montreal Canadiens, has donated time and money throughout North America and back in his native Russia, including the Kovalev and Friends Foundation for Children, which helps send doctors to Russia to teach skills to surgeons and perform surgeries.
The Foundation also works to benefit kids with heart conditions in Quebec, with summer camps and other initiatives.
Throughout the NHL season, the 35-year-old hosts more than 300 underprivileged and sick kids at Habs' home games at the Kovy's Kids Suite at the Bell Centre. This past season, he helped design and autograph tuques that were sold at Canadiens home games, raising $12,000 for the Montreal Canadiens Children's Foundation.
Since last March, he has helped to raise $120,000 for the Gift of Life foundation, which provides life-saving, open-heart surgeries to kids.
His inaugural golf tournament last summer raised $160,000 for his foundation.
In Columbus, Nash created the No. 61 club, which urges students to make healthy choices. Through his Club Good Health Challenge, he provides 30 tickets to each Blue Jackets home game to students who make 61 healthy choices in a month.
The 24-year-old left-winger gave the Ohio State University athletics department $100,000 to endow a scholarship, and donated $25,000 as the founding donor of John H. McConnell Scholarship Fund, which was named for the team's late majority owner and founder.
He chipped in another $5,000 to help send a Columbus team to the 2009 Quebec pee wee major tournament, and gives $15,000 annually to Santa's Silent Helpers, which helps Central Ohio families with children, single mothers or elderly, who are facing financial hardships at Christmastime.
Nash, of Brampton, Ont., created the Rick Bands program, which are used to promote leadership and character among Ohio youths, with the sales profits supporting pediatric cancer and promoting education and children's health and safety.
Last season, Trevor Linden of the Vancouver Canucks and Vincent Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightning shared the award.
Brown, Kovalev, Nash singled out for charity work
Canwest News Service/Monday, May 04, 2009
Dustin Brown, Alexei Kovalev and Rick Nash may be stars with their National Hockey League teams, but they are also starring away from the rink as well.
The players were named Monday as the three finalists for the 11th annual NHL Foundation Player Award, which is awarded yearly to an NHL player "in recognition of his commitment and service to charities in his community."
The winner will be announced on June 18 in Las Vegas at the league's annual awards gala. A judging panel determined the three finalists from team nominations from each of the league's 30 teams. The NHL Foundation will donate $25,000 US to a charity of the winner's choice.
Brown, a fifth-year forward with the Los Angeles Kings, has partnered with KaBOOM, a non-profit organization which offers kids a place to play within walking distance. This past season, he donated $50 for each of his hits toward building a playground in his hometown of Ithaca, N.Y.
The 24-year-old right-winger is a spokesman for the Children's Cancer Research Fund, is a supporter of the Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, in addition to supporting all the Kings' community initiatives.
Kovalev, a veteran right-winger with the Montreal Canadiens, has donated time and money throughout North America and back in his native Russia, including the Kovalev and Friends Foundation for Children, which helps send doctors to Russia to teach skills to surgeons and perform surgeries.
The Foundation also works to benefit kids with heart conditions in Quebec, with summer camps and other initiatives.
Throughout the NHL season, the 35-year-old hosts more than 300 underprivileged and sick kids at Habs' home games at the Kovy's Kids Suite at the Bell Centre. This past season, he helped design and autograph tuques that were sold at Canadiens home games, raising $12,000 for the Montreal Canadiens Children's Foundation.
Since last March, he has helped to raise $120,000 for the Gift of Life foundation, which provides life-saving, open-heart surgeries to kids.
His inaugural golf tournament last summer raised $160,000 for his foundation.
In Columbus, Nash created the No. 61 club, which urges students to make healthy choices. Through his Club Good Health Challenge, he provides 30 tickets to each Blue Jackets home game to students who make 61 healthy choices in a month.
The 24-year-old left-winger gave the Ohio State University athletics department $100,000 to endow a scholarship, and donated $25,000 as the founding donor of John H. McConnell Scholarship Fund, which was named for the team's late majority owner and founder.
He chipped in another $5,000 to help send a Columbus team to the 2009 Quebec pee wee major tournament, and gives $15,000 annually to Santa's Silent Helpers, which helps Central Ohio families with children, single mothers or elderly, who are facing financial hardships at Christmastime.
Nash, of Brampton, Ont., created the Rick Bands program, which are used to promote leadership and character among Ohio youths, with the sales profits supporting pediatric cancer and promoting education and children's health and safety.
Last season, Trevor Linden of the Vancouver Canucks and Vincent Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightning shared the award.
