When most fans think of Willie Mitchell, they picture the star Los Angeles Kings defenseman and Stanley Cup champion fearlessly protecting his goaltender.  Most may be unaware the physical blueliner doubles as an eco-warrior.

While Mitchell remains off the ice due to an injury, he remains in battle, fighting for the future of wild Pacific salmon. Mitchell, an avid outdoorsman and fisherman from coastal Port McNeill, British Columbia, is passionate about conserving this threatened species and preserving the health of our oceans.

Following a successful week of Earth Day events, the Dallas Stars teamed up with Sleep Inc. to host a mattress drive at two StarCenter locations and the American Airlines Center. In an effort to combat the addition of approximately 30 million mattresses to landfills each year, the Stars recycling event collected hundreds of mattresses tol be re-purposed.

Read on to find out more!

Throughout the NHL season and in celebration of the 43rd anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, NHL Clubs have implemented environmental programs in their communities and sustainability efforts in their facilities. Read on for a snapshot of how several NHL Clubs are participating in activities and events leading up to and around Earth Day.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will host ‘Go Green Night’, benefiting Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, to encourage recycling and environmental awareness tonight when the Lightning take on the Florida Panthers at 7:30 p.m. at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Fans who bring Panthers jerseys, hats or t-shirts, as well as any personal documents to shred at the Pro-Shred station will receive a $15 ticket in the Terrace Endzone for tonight’s game. This special ticket incentive will take place on Thunder Alley prior to the game; however, quantities are limited and will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis for those who participate.

The Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful program will recognize the numerous Bay area students that volunteer their time and talents to preserving and improving the community at tonight’s game. All donors will be honored during the game and on the Tampa Bay Lightning’s official website for their contributions. A portion of all proceeds will benefit Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful.

On Monday, fans of the Chicago Blackhawks cheered as the team skated passed the Nashville Predators in a gritty 3-2 shootout win during the Blackhawks’ annual environmentally-friendly “Go-Green” game.

Constellation, the official energy provider for United Center and sponsor of the team’s green games, purchased Green-e Energy Certified renewable energy certificates (RECs) to match the electricity use on game day. RECs represent the environmental benefit of electricity generated by wind and therefore avoid emissions associated with fossil fueled generation.

The RECs for the Blackhawks game are expected to avoid 63 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, roughly the equivalent of burning 146 barrels of oil.

Read on, and learn how you can switch to 100 percent renewable energy for your home.

Tomorrow (Saturday, March 23) at 8:30 PM, the National Hockey League and its 30 Clubs and associated venues will join hundreds of millions of homes and businesses worldwide, turning off non-essential lighting for one hour.

For the second consecutive year, the NHL has pledged its participation and support of the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Earth Hour. This year, Earth Hour will unite millions of people in 7,001 cities and towns across 152 countries and territories for one hour in a global effort to cut back on energy consumption and show unified concern for the environment.

Read on, and find out how NHL Clubs are doing their part - and easy ways you can participate.

The Buffalo Sabres are offering fans an opportunity to win twice -- dispose waste in a sustainable manner and get a discount on great Sabres merchandise for doing so.

The Red Wings face off against the Minnesota Wild at Joe Louis Arena on Wednesday March 20th for DTE Energy’s third annual 'Going Green Night'.

The Red Wings and DTE Energy have collaborated on several projects, including Light the Lamp, where goal lamps and scoreboard lights at Joe Louis Arena were replaced with state-of-the-art LEDs that use less power and have a longer lifespan then the average incandescent light bulb.

As part of the theme night, DTE Energy and the Red Wings will be giving away “Going Green” coolers and will be displaying “Going Green” facts throughout the game on the JLA scoreboard. The Joe will also welcome the 400 fans who won tickets to the game by entering an energy efficiency contest hosted by DTE.

Read on, and take part in DTE Energy Going Green Night at Joe Louis arena on March 20.

In January, NHL Green announced the launch of Hat Tricks for Trees™, an initiative assisting The Nature Conservancy’s effort to save Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. The National Hockey League Foundation is donating 50 trees for every hat trick scored throughout the 2012-13 regular season and NHL Playoffs.

To date, the League has now pledged to plant 1,000 trees as part of the initiative.

By the numbers: Only one player, Chris Kunitz, has recorded more than one hat trick at this point in the season. As a team, the Anaheim Ducks (Cogliano, Palmieri, Bonino), Philadelphia Flyers (Read, Voracek) and Calgary Flames (Glencross, Cammalleri) have had multiple players contribute hat tricks. Only one team (Anaheim Ducks) have lost this season when one of their players tallied three goals in a game (Cogliano, March 2). Of the twenty hat tricks recorded thus far, seven have been career-firsts (Voracek, Kopecky, Palmieri, Read, Bonino, Kadri and Sobotka).

Read on, and take a look back at the players who notched hat tricks 11 through 20 this season, contributing 500 trees to the League’s total pledge.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is set to honor leaders in professional sports for their environmental efforts at the organization’s Game Changer Awards Gala on Thursday, March 14th in New York.

The event will be co-chaired by National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman, along with the Commissioners of the MLB, NBA, and MLS.

The NRDC provides fundamental support to the NHL in the League's ever-expanding commitment to ecological responsibility. Through the NRDC’s environmental initiatives and collaborations across all professional sports, the industry has avoided emitting millions of pounds of greenhouse gasses and conserved millions of gallons of water, all while saving millions of dollars and invaluable natural resources.