Ex-Red Wings greats to clash with local first-responders for a heart-warming cause
Former Red Wings goalie Eddie Mio makes a save during a recent alumni game. Photo courtesy of Detroit Red Wings Alumni Association
Thursday’s game in Plymouth to benefit Northville’s Living & Learning Enrichment Center
Two teams consisting of southeast Michigan’s most-beloved people — former Detroit Red Wings and first-responders/frontline workers — will square off Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (doors will open at 5:30 p.m.) at Plymouth’s USA Hockey Arena all for a great cause: Northville’s Living & Learning Enrichment Center.
Regardless of the final score, Thursday night’s biggest winner will be the Living & Learning Enrichment Center, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to enhance the lives of people with disabilities by providing therapeutic, social, work-based, and community engagement.
“We seek to support, enrich, inspire, and embolden our participants and their families so they can achieve their goals,” explained Rachelle Vartanian, the organization’s founder.
Proceeds generated from the inaugural Hockey Hearts & Heroes fundraising game — ticket sales plus money raised through other activities including a sports-themed silent auction — will go toward the center’s worthwhile goals of creating a space where teenaged and young-adults living with disabilities can learn skills to enhance their lives.
The Red Wings alumni team annually plays approximately 12 fundraising games throughout metropolitan Detroit.
Among the former Wings slated to play are Mickey Redmond, John Ogrodnick and Jiri Fischer. Their opponents’ roster will include metro-Detroit fire fighers, police officers and paramedics, to name a few.
Singer Karen Newman, who performed the “National Anthem” before Red Wings games during the organization’s Stanley Cup-winning years, is scheduled to perform the “National Anthem” prior to Thursday’s opening faceoff.
Tickets are $25 for attendees 12 years and older; and $15 for those 6 to 11 years old. Kids 5 and younger are free.
Tickets can be purchased by visiting usahockeyarena.com or at the door prior to the event.
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