NHL playoff hockey draft will raise funds for mental health unit

A fun evening for hockey fans will help to raise funds for healthcare and baseball in southwest Saskatchewan.

The Dr. Noble Irwin Regional Healthcare Foundation and the Field of Dreams committee, which raises funds for the Swift Current 57’s baseball team, are partnering again to present the 6th annual Urban Cellars NHL Playoff Hockey Draft at the Living Sky Casino, May 3.

The two organizations will split the proceeds from the event, and the Healthcare Foundation will use its share to purchase beds for the Mental Health Unit in the Cypress Regional Hospital.

Healthcare Foundation Executive Director Jim Dekowny said there is a real need for new beds in the Mental Health Unit.

“When the new hospital was built, the beds came over from the old hospital and they haven’t had any new beds ever since,” he noted. “So they’re in dire need of some beds in the Mental Health Unit and a couple of other pieces of equipment there.”

The cost of each bed is about $7,000 and the intention is the replace 10 of the existing beds, which are over 20 years old.

The Mental Health inpatient unit offers support to over 200 patients from across the southwest each year. A key part of the care offered in the unit is to ensure patients get into the routine of a regular sleep schedule.

The NHL Playoff Hockey Draft will be one of several events hosted this year by the Healthcare Foundation to raise funds for beds and equipment in the Mental Health Unit.

“We’re going to try to do a few events for the Mental Health Unit at the hospital this year and get them some new beds,” he said.

The 2022 NHL Playoff Hockey Draft will be a welcome return to the Living Sky Casino, where the event was hosted before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The organizers faced a significant challenge during the past two years to continue the NHL Playoff Hockey Draft during the pandemic, but they were able to do it.

The event had a virtual format in 2020 and participants joined from their basements, living rooms, or wherever they were at the time.

It was possible to have an in-person event in 2021, but restrictions on gathering sizes meant three restaurants in Swift Current were used as hub venues for participants.

“For what we were doing and how well it went, it was really good,” he said. “But the logistics of it sometimes didn’t work real great. I think having everybody in the same room at the casino this year and having Ryan Switzer emcee it would be just a little bit easier on everybody and it should be a real fun night.”

There were 22 participating teams, each with eight players, in last year’s NHL Playoff Hockey Draft and the event raised about $20,000 for the Healthcare Foundation.

“It was still good,” Dekowny said. “We lost a couple of teams, which was to be expected, but hopefully this year we can get back to full house and have a good time like we always do. … We’re hoping to get 24 to 25 teams, like we used to have, and have some fun that night.”

He noted there is a core group of hockey fans who create their eight-member teams for each year’s NHL Playoff Hockey Draft fundraiser. There has already been a good response for this year’s event and he is confident there will be a full house of teams.

The registration fee for a team of eight is $1,200. Registration includes a prime rib buffet dinner, Molson’s and Wildflower Florist take home gifts, and Urban Cellars gift cards. The activities during the evening include Molson happy hour, a live auction to secure the top 15 picks, the 50/50 draw, and a silent jersey auction.

“We’ve got some really good auction items,” he said. “Edmonton Oilers tickets, Calgary Flames box seats, and we have a trip on WestJet to L.A. for two people to watch the L.A. Kings play. So we have those type of sports auction items. It should be a real cool night.”

There are cash prizes for the top three teams. The first-place payout is $6,000. The second-place team will receive $3,000 and the third-place team will win $1,500.

For more information and to register for the 2022 Urban Cellars NHL Hockey Draft, call the Healthcare Foundation office at 306-778-3314.