NHL players, police, firefighters team up for charity: Fund-raiser benefits children with cancer

Prowler Head Coach and former Columbus Chill center (1998-99) Marty Laroche and Prowler parent and OSU Head Coach John Markell participated in this year's Columbus Fire and Police charity game along with several NHL Players from the Columbus Blue Jackets, Mark Recchi from the Pittsburgh Penguins, Robert Esche from the Philadelphia Flyers and several former Blue Jackets. The game raised more than $25,000 for a new Hats for Heroes effort, a sibling-support program and pediatric cancer.

Click here for game photos.

Read the full Columbus Dispatch Article here:

GARRETT HUBBARD | DISPATCH Retired NHL player Kevin Dineen and his son Liam, 4, relax before a charity game at the Chiller North. Dineen played for the Blue Jackets in 2000-03.

As seen in Columbus Dispatch
Monday, November 29, 2004

Michael Arace
marace@dispatch.com
The Columbus Dispatch

LEWIS CENTER, Ohio — Delaney Diggs is 8½ years old, and don’t forget the half. To meet her is to get a kiss on the cheek, a hug around the neck and a noogie on the crown. Her noogies hurt as much as a summer breeze.

Diggs has moved to Michigan for a different type of cancer treatment, but she made sure to get back to central Ohio for a special event last night. She had a place of honor: She sang the national anthem — belted it out, you know — before an overflow crowd of 1,200 at the Chiller North.

"I wasn’t that scared," she said, "but I was kind of scared."

Diggs received a rousing ovation for her performance, and so began a two-hour respite from the NHL’s lingering insanity. The event was the Columbus Police vs. Firefighters annual charity game. Usually, it’s held after a Blue Jackets game, but there are no Blue Jackets games.

NHL owners have locked out the players over a collective bargaining dispute. These are strange times. Players are estranged from their work, fans are estranged from the game and front-office personnel might be soon estranged from their livelihood.

Enter officer Joe Plancon.

"On Aug. 25, I found out my 6-month-old son had cancer," Plancon said.

Plancon plays for the police team. He is acquainted with a number of Blue Jackets through on-ice workouts and, perhaps, the occasional late-night libation.

As his son, Sullivan, began chemotherapy, Plancon bounced an idea off one of his pals, Blue Jackets right winger Tyler Wright: How about Columbus’ Finest vs. Bravest as a benefit for Wright’s Hats for Heroes program, which aids pediatric cancer patients?

"It was a natural, and I’ve got to give Joe credit," Wright said. "He took this and ran with it."

With the help of Wendy Bradshaw, who runs the charitable Blue Jackets Foundation, Wright and teammate Luke Richardson lined up sponsors, auction items and publicity. Plancon did everything else, from ordering jerseys to delivering tickets.

"Joe did all the heavy lifting," Richardson said. "He has been amazing."

Cops played alongside firefighters instead of against one another. They were joined by a number of NHL players, including Wright, Richardson, Geoff Sanderson, Trevor Letowski and Todd Marchant. Retiree Kevin Dineen laced ’em up and looked spry. Former Blue Jacket Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre played. So did Pittsburgh Penguins star Mark Recchi and Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Robert Esche.

They raised more than $25,000 for a new Hats for Heroes effort, a sibling-support program.

As for the game, it was a highscoring affair, full of breakaways, penalty shots and neat saves. The winners?

"My son is in good hands with the doctors and nurses at Children’s Hospital," Plancon said. "This was for some of the kids who are a little worse off than my boy, for families who maybe don’t have the insurance I have. It’s $25,000 that maybe the foundation wasn’t expecting and I really hope it helps. . . . I can’t wait to do it again."