Seeing Wings in pink spurs ’05 AAA team to service project

By: Hockey Weekly Staff

The curiosity of 10-year-old hockey players on the Little Caesars 2005 AAA team of why do the Red Wings and other NHL players wear pink in October led to a great community service team project that raised about $13,000 for cancer programs. When 2005 coach Marco Trevino’s team took on the LaSalle Sabres from Canada October 31, at Southfield Arena the game was a culmination of the kids’ fundraising efforts.

Little Caesars Director of Amateur Hockey Darren Eliot said the kids came to coach Trevino and said: “Why do the (NHL) players have pink tape on their sticks or wear pink laces? “And they said what can we do when they found out what it was all about – part of the cancer awareness (and) the, hockey fights cancer initiative in October.” Eliot credited Trevino, the rest of his staff and the team’s parents for putting the whole project together and that the players were asked to raise at least $100 each on their own and not just have their parents cut a check. After the game the two teams posed with mock checks for $5,500 each for two cancer organizations selected for helping: Angels for Hope and Curves for a Cure. “And the team from LaSalle donated $1,000 themselves,” added Eliot. “It was great the kids learned about things in the community, community service, citizenship – all those things other than just playing hockey.”

The two teams were also highlighted in a film clip segment on Fox Sports Detroit’s Red Wings pre-game show on Oct. 3, when the Wings beat Tampa Bay, 2-1.   Eliot is also a Red Wings broadcast analyst on the show along with former Wings goalie Chris Osgood. “What a wonderful event and it raised a ton of money,” said Osgood on the show. “Great job by both those teams and whoever organized it.”