From the C&G Newspapers’ Scott Bentley:
The annual MI-UCP Skating to Close the Disability Divide charity hockey event with the Detroit Red Wings Alumni team will take place March 15 at St. Mary’s Arena in West Bloomfield.
For the 23rd time, the Red Wings Alumni will face off against the MI-UCP Pucksters, which is a team composed of amateur supporters of the Michigan United Cerebral Palsy organization. The annual sled hockey game between the MI-UCP Sledsters and a sled hockey program representing Belle Tire will also take place during the event, prior to the game between the Red Wings Alumni and the Pucksters.
“We started it in 2000,” said Mike Ward, who is a MI-UCP board member. “We were trying to think of new ways to fundraise.”
According to Ward, he reached out to Dennis Hextall, who was the previous president of the Detroit Red Wings Alumni Association.
“So I contacted him,” Ward said. “The guys that would play against the Alumni would raise funds to skate against them and get their butts kicked.”
Several years later, the event added a sled hockey exhibition game. According to Ward, the addition of the sled hockey game has been a massive success, with both games included as part of the event for about 15 years.
“It really changed the event in a big way,” Ward explained. “Once we did that, we were able to expand our fundraising and expand our awareness.”
