Hockey for Haiti

The National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) and veteran NHL player, Georges Laraque, have partnered with World Vision to support the people of Haiti through the Hockey for Haiti project. To launch the players’ relief support for Haiti, the NHLPA Goals & Dreams Fund has made an initial donation of $100,000 to Hockey for Haiti, through World Vision.

“The people of Haiti, including my family and friends, have been through so much devastation since the earthquake hit their country,” said Laraque. “The NHLPA donation will help World Vision strengthen Haiti’s ability to provide critical healthcare and medical care, which the Haitian people desperately need more of after the destruction.”

Laraque, whose family in Haiti has been directly impacted by this earthquake, added: “I'm extremely proud that the hockey community, including NHL players and fans, are uniting through Hockey for Haiti to make significant contributions toward this cause. Please open up your heart to these people. This is our chance to do something big to help a nation rebuild itself.”

On-line auction

In order to raise even more funds and encourage fan participation in this initiative, the NHLPA is hosting an online auction through its website, www.nhlpa.com, which will feature unique memorabilia donated by the NHLPA and its members. The auction, which is expected to last more than a month, will feature such unique items as Winter Classic jerseys worn by stars such as Pavel Datsyuk, Patrice Bergeron, Chris Pronger and Brent Seabrook. Other items will include autographed Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin jerseys, autographed game-used sticks from Scott Gomez and Andrei Markov, as well as numerous framed autographed photos of NHL players. Many more one-of-a-kind memorabilia items will be added throughout the auction and nhlpa.com will also encourage and enable fans and players to make a financial contribution directly to the Hockey for Haiti project through an online link to the World Vision website.

The NHLPA is enthusiastically supporting Laraque in the players’ initiative to raise money for this World Vision relief effort. Laraque has also sent a personal note to his fellow NHL players, requesting their support, and the NHLPA has posted all pertinent information on its players-only intranet site for players to get involved in Hockey for Haiti.