A Movember to Remember

The month of November is typically when the NHL runs their league-wide Hockey Fights Cancer initiative. There's lavender everywhere, special jerseys, fundraisers, honored guests dropping pucks, and even a little extra facial hair.
So, what's with the mustaches?

Since 2003, Movember has been an annual event involving the growing of mustaches to raise awareness for men's health issues such as prostate and testicular cancer, and men's suicide. Managed by the Movember Foundation, a goal of the movement is to reduce the number of men dying prematurely by 25 percent by the year 2030.
This year, 13 players and two staff members from the Ontario Reign took it upon themselves to impact the decline in razor sales for the month, and form a Movember team in an effort to raise awareness and money for this cause. Defenseman Cameron Gaunce is spearheading the unified effort and is the official captain of the group's
Movember team
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"This year there was a number of players that wanted to do it and we thought 'we've got people like Jared who are willing to help, so we should do something that could actually affect some change,'" says Gaunce, referring to Jared Shafran, the Reign's manager, communications and content. "Most people now have had people in their lives who have been affected by cancer. Cancer has affected members of my family and friends, so any chance I could help cancer, cancer research, cancer awareness, anything like that I jump at the opportunity."
Shafran worked quickly to set up the team donation page, has been updating the progress photos throughout the month, and each player has their own fundraising page that they have been personally contributing to and promoting on their own social media platforms. In addition to growing mustaches, Gaunce has also been active in the "Move for Movember" part of the initiative, which has a goal of 60 moving miles for the month in honor of the 60 men lost to suicide each hour around the world.
While one could easily argue that any professional hockey player skates more than 60 miles in a month during the season, Gaunce is making sure that he tracks his walks in and around the South Bay to reach the 60-mile goal. Without a wearable tracker, Gaunce uses Google Maps to track his distance and knows the mileage from his home to places he frequents, like the grocery store and the piers - down to a tenth of a mile. He then uploads his mileage onto his personal fundraising page so his donors can see his activity.
For Gaunce, who doesn't have social media, word-of-mouth is his personal go-to method of communication, and three-quarters of the way through the month, has used it to raise more than $1300.
"One thing I can do is grow facial hair, so if I can grow facial hair and help out in any way I can, I'll do it. For me, it's one of the last few spots on my body I can actually grow hair. The top of my head seems to be behind a bit, so I'll take it if I can get it on my lip," says Gaunce with a chuckle.

When asked about which of his teammates is sporting the most impressive 'stache, Gaunce didn't hesitate to give the title to forward Martin Frk, comparing Frk's mustache to that of British singer-songwriter Freddie Mercury. Frk, when asked the same question, actually came up with the same answer.
"I think me for sure. No question. I must be one of the top for sure, I personally think," says Frk with a grin.
No stranger to the Movember mustache, Frk has participated in the movement dating back to his days playing Junior, before it was even a fundraiser for him. He finally starting raising money his first year playing professional hockey.
"I personally like to do it, it's for a good cause. Also, it's something new to have on your face. I always have a full beard so this is a little bit of a changeup. I'm glad we're doing it. A lot of guys tried to jump on it and we're definitely raising money for a good cause so that's always good," says Frk, who had a relatively easy time going from his usual full beard to just the 'stache.
On the other side of the spectrum, the most follically-challenged teammate, according to Gaunce, is fellow blue-liner Jordan Spence.
"He's got a ton of spirit, but I'm just nervous that if he washes his mouth too much it might come off," Gaunce says, laughing.
Frk agrees that some of the younger guys are having a bit of stubble trouble, as compared with his veteran facial hair status.
"Obviously the older I get, I get better facial hair, so now it's showing up a little bit more. I feel like overall I have pretty good facial hair and my mustache is pretty good, too," says Frk, who thinks that it's possible the mustache will stay past November.
While the mustaches are eye-catching and entertaining to say the least, the motivation behind them cannot be overlooked.
"What I hope people see when they see our team with mustaches is a group of people bonding together to help in any way we can and bring awareness to people's health," says the 31-year-old Gaunce.
While he believes that cancer is the largest focus of Movember, Gaunce feels very strongly about men's health in general, specifically that sometimes people are flippant about their health and whether or not they should get checked out. He knows people who have procrastinated with getting check-ups in a timely fashion and it ended up costing them in the long run.
"Hopefully with something like this it just reminds people to think about your health, think about others, do what you can to help," says Gaunce, who has participated in Movember previously, but never with this much zeal.
One known member of the hockey community currently battling prostate cancer is Henderson Silver Knights head coach Manny Viveiros. Gaunce recognizes that it's guys like Viveiros that the Movember participants are rallying behind - not just those playing for the Reign, but those in the entire hockey community.
"You see that bit of camaraderie around the league," says Gaunce. "When he sees us doing [Movember], he feels that. We're a community, yeah we play against each other, but the hockey community is a very tight knit, small community, so if there's something we can all do together and kind of pull the rope in the same direction it's gong to be that much easier for us."
It could have been a November just like any other. But Gaunce, Frk, their 12 Mo Bros, and their mustaches are determined to make this one count.