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Capitals to Participate in Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Month

October 16, 2011

Capitals to Participate in Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Month
Team will take part in cancer awareness and education initiatives

ARLINGTON, Va. - The Washington Capitals are teaming up with the National Hockey League this October to educate the hockey community about cancer. Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Month is a league-wide initiative founded by the NHL and NHL Players’ Association that brings the hockey community together to fight cancer, a disease that has affected so many individuals in the hockey family and beyond.

This October the Capitals are partnering with Flashes of Hope for Hockey Fights Cancer. Washington Capitals Charities donated $5,000 to the charity to fund the Washington, D.C., chapter for the 2011-12 season, and directed another $5,000 to Flashes of Hope from the NHL’s Hockey Fights Cancer fund.

Caps players, team personnel and front office staff will actively participate in the initiative. All players’ helmets will feature a Hockey Fights Cancer decal throughout the month of October. Coaches, select owners, broadcasters and team personnel will participate in the cause by sporting commemorative Hockey Fights Cancer ties. Left wing Jason Chimera is featured in a PSA with 12-year-old cancer survivor and Caps fan Anthony Holley that will run during Capitals home games in October and be featured on WashingtonCaps.com.

Taking place on Oct. 22 during the game against the Detroit Red Wings, Hockey Fights Cancer Night highlights the Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Month schedule. There will be a ceremonial puck drop with Holley before the game. Mike Green (Green’s Gang) and Alex Ovechkin (Ovi’s Crazy 8’s) are also donating their seats to the Washington, D.C., chapter of Flashes of Hope. Attendees sitting in these sections will be cancer patients and their families.

During Hockey Fights Cancer Night the Caps will host a jersey auction at the community relations table located at section 104 in Verizon Center benefiting the Washington, D.C., chapter of Flashes of Hope. These autographed home jerseys will be worn by players during warmups and will feature Hockey Fights Cancer patches on the front with the players’ names and numbers stitched in lavender on the back. Lavender is the official color the NHL’s Hockey Fights Cancer month, as it represents all forms of cancer. Bidding will start at 6 p.m. and will conclude when the puck drops to start the third period. For the first time fans who are not in attendance will be allowed to bid on items by submitting an absentee bid form HERE. Absentee bid forms must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 21.

The Washington, D.C., Flashes of Hope chapter is funded by Washington Capitals Charities and based out of Children’s National Medical Center in northwest Washington. Last year 166 D.C.-area families were photographed during eight shoots. Capitals forward Jason Chimera attended a photo shoot on the Hematology/Oncology Care Unit at Children’s Hospital in October 2010, spending time with patients and their families, taking photos and signing autographs. Chimera and Brooks Laich also participated in a Flashes of Hope photo shoot at Kettler Capitals Iceplex on Oct.14 as part of Hockey Fights Cancer month.

Flashes of Hope is a nonprofit organization that changes the way children with cancer and other life threatening illnesses see themselves through the gift of photography and raises money for pediatric cancer research. The portraits, taken by award-winning photographers, help children feel better about their changing appearance by celebrating it. For families of terminally ill children, it's especially important to have a portrait that forever preserves the beauty, grace and dignity of their child. The goal of Flashes of Hope is to photograph every child until every child is cured.

Hockey Fights Cancer is a component of the NHL's "Biggest Assist Happens off the Ice" campaign, the league's long-standing tradition of addressing important social issues in North America and around the world. It is a joint initiative founded in 1998 by the NHL and the Players' Association to raise money and awareness for national and local organizations involved in cancer care and research. Hockey Fights Cancer is supported by NHL member clubs, NHL alumni, the NHL Officials' Association, professional hockey trainers and equipment managers, corporate marketing partners, broadcast partners and fans throughout North America. To date more than $11 million has been raised to support national and local cancer research institutions, children's hospitals, player charities and local cancer organizations.