Hockey Helps Marathon surpasses $850,000 goal

DIX HILLS, N.Y.-- Adam Graves took the ice Saturday morning with the same child-like joy he's felt since he first laced up skates, playing alongside other NHL alumni and volunteers for the fifth annual Hockey Helps Marathon, a 24-hour event designed to raise money and awareness for local charities.

The event, which began at 10 a.m., was made up of seven men's teams and two women's teams playing 24 games, consisting of two periods of 22 minutes each (running time), at Dix Hills Ice Rink.
In his first game, Graves joked that he was minus-2 and preferred to dump the puck instead of backcheck. Despite his performance on the ice, the two-time Stanley Cup champion had a line of people waiting for pictures and autographs off the ice.

"Every single person is equally important as the one beside them," Graves, 50, said. "That's the special part. I'm just lucky enough to put on hockey equipment and follow a black disc around the ice. It's important to be a part of the community but there are people who are doing so much more important work, and those are the people that you want to support and want to make sure they're recognized."
Graves was joined by Stephane Matteau, Brian Mullen, Benoit Hogue, Arron Asham, Colton Orr and several volunteers for the marathon, which supported charities including Hockey Fights Cancer, Soulful Living for Recovery, North Shore Holiday House and the Smilezone Foundation USA. Proceeds were generated through
donations and an on-site auction
. Items up for bidding included tickets to the Rangers' season opener against the Nashville Predators at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 4, a meet and greet with Rangers forward Kevin Hayes, and watching a Rangers game with Graves and Matteau from a Garden suite.
The goal this year was to raise $850,000. By the end of the marathon, donations totaled $858,966 not including funds from the auction and sales of Hockey Helps Marathon T-Shirts, helping the event exceed $2 million raised to date.

"I think first and foremost, two words: the people," said Graves on the collective charitable efforts. "I'd like to think that this is a larger part of the hockey community."
For Matteau, his greatest moment in the NHL came when he scored the game-winning goal for the Rangers in double overtime against the New Jersey Devils in Game 7 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Final. Among his most fulfilling of his life, though, is the Hockey Helps Marathon and a similar event in Montreal that raised $18,000.
"When you are in the NHL, life is going by so fast," Matteau said. "When you retire, you realize the impact athletes can have. The quality of the game doesn't matter. We're not there showing off. We're there to celebrate life. We're fortunate to be able to give back. Even though it's hard to play those 24 hours, it's very rewarding the next day when you present the check to the organizations in need."
Jim Flanagan, chief operating officer of sponsor PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), worked with Graves and Matteau to launch the marathon and was a goaltender on one of the men's teams.
"Having them there and other guys who have joined us the past few years, it's amazing," Flanagan said. "When you have Benoit Hogue and Adam Graves shooting pucks at you, it's a really cool experience. But they're great people."

The women's game has also evolved to where they had two full teams compared to five years ago, when they had four women playing with men. One participant this year was 11-year-old Skyla Peltzman from Melville, New York, whose hat trick was among the highlights of her experience.
"It was very cool," Peltzman said. "It was amazing to have real pro players play on the ice with me. Graves was trying to make me lose."
The marathon also amplified the NHL Declaration of Principles, eight ideologies aimed at creating the best experience for the hockey community regardless of age, gender or nationality.
"This is what the game is all about," Graves said. "This is why we play the game, the pure joy, the camaraderie, and all the life lessons and things it enriches. The game is for everyone. That is the message. It's called opportunity. Just get out there who play."
The biggest challenge for Graves and others was pacing themselves for 24 hours. Graves planned on playing six games by dinnertime and resuming later in the evening. Hogue, who retired in 2002 after 15 NHL seasons, aimed to play for 12 hours straight before resting for a few hours and returning for games from 3 a.m. until the end of the marathon on Sunday.
"That's my plan," Hogue said. "Hopefully it works.
"It's a game. It's a fun game. We've got girls playing, we've got moms, we've got older guys, younger guys, it means a lot. The money that they raise for this and what they do with it, it's a great feeling. I'm proud to be part of it."
For more information and to get involved, visit HockeyHelpsMarathon.com.