IceDogs dressed for charitable success
Fundraising was wear it was at when the Niagara IceDogs wore special jerseys at two home games earlier this season.
While the Ontario Hockey League team wasn’t dressed for success on either occasion, losing 1-0 to the Ottawa 67’s on Autism Awareness Night and falling 6-3 to the Barrie Colts on Ugly Christmas Sweater Night, community charities emerged as the biggest winners of all, thanks to the generosity of IceDogs fans.
On Tuesday representatives from Austism Ontario’s Niagara chapter received a $15,350 cheque from team owners Bill and Denise Burke, while Community Care of St. Catharines and Thorold received a $15,000 donation a week ago.
The IceDogs literally gave fans the shirts, er, jerseys off their backs, albeit for a price. One-of-a-kind jerseys with an Austism Awareness theme were auctioned off shortly after a Oct. 21 game against Ottawa with the top sellers for the night the game-worn souveniors of forward Akil Thomas and defenceman Elijah Roberts, $1,200 each.
In addition to getting $850 for Stephen Dhillon’s jersey, $1,235 was raised when the specially designed mask the goaltender wore for the night was sold in an auction online.
Dhillon’s No. 30 was the biggest seller on Ugly Christmas Sweater Night fetching $800. Right behind were defenceman Drew Hunter, $600, with the jerseys worn by forwards Johnny Corneil, Kirill Maksimov, Philip Tomasino and blueliner Billy Constantinou going for $625 each.
The IceDogs received a big assist in their fundraising efforts, with Luke Passmore of Luke’s Auctions donating his time on both nights.