First responders, Panthers alumni play charity game
On a normal day, Coral Springs police officer Jessica Lortie is focused on keeping citizens safe as a first responder.
With her long brown ponytail flying outside her helmet, Lortie was patrolling the ice along with other first responders from South Florida in a recent charity hockey game against the Florida Panthers National Hockey League Alumni at the BB&T Center in Sunrise.
Lortie, 32, was in her element during action in the second annual “Pucks for Bucks” benefit for the Coral Springs Community Chest. She played for Southern Maine before transferring to Boston University to be a member of the school’s Division I women’s hockey team from 2005-07.
Lortie currently skates in men’s hockey leagues in both Pembroke Pines and Coral Springs.
“I grew up playing hockey and I love the sport,” she said. “I think this game was exciting.”
She appreciated the thought that went into the Pucks for Bucks game, which was originally slated for Sept. 16 at the IceDen in Coral Springs but rescheduled when Hurricane Irma hit the area. The Panthers organization added the game to its annual PanthersFest event for season ticket holders.
“It’s a fun time and it’s for a good cause,” Lortie said. “It was great to skate in here at the BB&T Center. It was like you signed a one-day contract for the NHL, especially them giving us all of the Panthers gear and everything.”
Panthers Vice President of Broadcasting and Panthers Alumni Randy Moller said there was plenty of excitement at the event. Prior to the game, the Florida Panthers Alumni Association presented a $1,000 check to the Coral Springs Community Chest, which supports numerous charities in the area.
“They asked if we could play a couple of years ago and it was a great success in that we raised quite a bit of money,” Moller added, “so we decided to do it again this year. It’s worked out really well because a lot of the players play rec hockey over at the IceDen, but they don’t get an opportunity to play here at the BB&T Center with the NHL locker rooms.”
Former Panthers’ enforcer Peter Worrell, who coaches the North Broward Prep high school team, loves participating in this endeavor.
“This is pretty cool to be able to do this,” Worrell said. “The guys haven’t seen each other in a long time, and the first responders are huge, especially for what they have done the past couple of months. It really exemplifies itself.”
Coral Springs Deputy Police Chief Shawn Backer, 45, was a latecomer to hockey but said the game was a great event.
“We are just thrilled to death to put this on,” Backer said. “I think it is a great marriage with their PanthersFest to be able to do this and raise a few bucks for charity.
“Obviously, it worked out better because we were able to host it here and be able to skate on the ice at the BB&T Center is a huge honor,” Backer continued. “It’s a great thrill because a lot of us come to the games to support the Panthers. So being here and skating on the ice is just an amazing opportunity for all of us and I am glad to be a part of it.”
Susan Grant, who serves on the Coral Springs Community Chest Board of Directors, was happy with the turnout and hoped to raise $5,000.
“It is very nice and the Florida Panthers have been very hospitable,” she said. “They have opened their arena and bent over backwards to make sure we were organized and helped us get all of this together. We hope to make over $5,000 for some really good causes.”
The Panthers alum team included Tomas Vokoun, Bobby Segin, Jeff Chychrun, Peter Worrell, Dan Quinn, Bill Lindsey, Olli Jokinen, Martin Tuma, Tomas Fleischmann, Ray Sheppard, Shawn Thornton, Paul Healy, Anders Eriksson, Alex Tanguay, Serge Payer and Ed Jovanovski. Radek Dvorak coached the alumni team.
The South Florida Police squad included Shawn Backer (Coral Springs), Jessica Lortie (Coral Springs), Mark Renner (Fort Lauderdale), Ken Hall (Pembroke Pines), Mustafa Malik (Lauderhill), Mike Black (Miramar), Rich Spradling (Davie), Tonya Gentilcore (Boca Raton), Andrew Burrows (Jupiter), Tim Ledroux (Bal Harbor), Mike Fongemi (Palm Beach Sheriff ), Rocco Inneo (FBI) and Joe Gomes (New York/ retired). Denis Potvin coached the police team.