Wild host inaugural Crazy Game of Hockey charity event

ST. PAUL, Minn. --A sold-out crowd of more than 800 fans were treated to a "Crazy Game of Hockey" as nearly 60 current and former NHL players, influencers, musicians and former athletes participated in the inaugural celebrity charity game to raise money for the Minnesota Wild Foundation at TRIA Rink on Saturday.

"A pretty fun time on the ice for the off-season," said Wild defenseman Alex Goligoski. "It's a good way to kick off being on the ice again. Good charity event and a great turnout with amount of guys and girls involved."

Wild forwards Matt Boldy and Ryan Hartman, along with defensemen Jared Spurgeon, Jon Merrill and Goligoski were split into two teams coached by O.A.R. lead singer Marc Robarge and local Minneapolis-guitarist Cory Wong. NHL Alums Wes Walz, Devan Dubnyk, Ryan Carter, Thomas Vanek, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Drew Stafford, Nate Prosser and Mike Modano also participated in the three period running-time game. Team Wong defeated Team O.A.R. in a shootout, 11-10.

"I'll tell you tomorrow how I feel, but so far so good," Modano said with a laugh. "We had a ton of guys out there on the bench, so we had a good rotation and a lot of breaks between and the guys are just having a good time.

"It's a lot of legwork, a lot of behind the scenes stuffing putting this together fairly quickly, so hats off to them. They pulled out a good thing."

The roster spots extended beyond just hockey athletes, including 7-foot-2 NBA alum Greg Ostertag, and Minnesota native and former Minnesota Twin Joe Mauer.

"[Mauer's] kind of a freak athlete," said Goligoski. "He can pretty much do anything."

The weekend also featured VIP events and concerts beginning on Friday night and concluding with an O.A.R. and Cory Wong concert on Saturday at The Armory in Minneapolis.

"There's so many great people in that room that are raising money for a great cause, it's awesome," said Spurgeon, who noted it was only his second skate of the summer with the first being on Friday to prep for the charity game. "To meet some new people from all different aspects from the entertainment industry to different sports, to comedians as well as teammates, it was just fun to get out there and see the fan support for a great cause."

The net proceeds will benefit the Minnesota Wild Foundation which supports pediatric medical causes, serves as the largest non-member funding source for Minnesota Hockey, and provides fundraising opportunities for youth hockey associations across the state. The total funds raised during the event has not yet been released.

"We're the State of Hockey right? It's a great community with great people here and I'm happy to be back and apart of it," said Modano.