‘Puck Cancer’ charity game features Blues, NHL alumni, country music stars

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- The St. Louis Blues alumni faced a group of NHL alumni and celebrity guests in the "Puck Cancer" charity game at Centene Community Ice Center on Friday.

Proceeds from the event go toward supporting Siteman Cancer Center and The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

The game, which drew a sellout crowd of 3,000 plus standing room attendance and consisted of two 20-minute periods, ended in a 7-7 tie.

The Blues and Blues alumni presented a check for $600,000 prior to puck drop, and the game raised more than $400,000 and counting for cancer research.

Blues alumnus Kelly Chase, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in November, helped orchestrate the event.

"I'm extremely grateful, but I also look at it like I think everyone's been affected by (cancer)," Chase said. "It's not a one-time thing, there's nobody that's going to be here that has not been affected by cancer in some way, shape or form, right? I've been supported in so many ways by this city at so many different times, it's overwhelming, and then the brotherhood of the hockey players, sports community, entertainers. I'm pretty happy, pretty grateful and pretty proud of them."

Among the notable players to participate in the event included Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan; Chase and his three sons Will, Luke and Ben; Barret Jackman, Cam Janssen, Pierre Turgeon, Brian Elliott and country music singer Dierks Bentley. Notable NHL alumni included Chris Chelios, Adam Graves, Ray Whitney, Sheldon Souray, George Parros, Ed Belfour, Brian Boyle, Adam Burish and “Full House” star Dave Coulier.

"A lot of big dogs," Janssen said. "... They're so fun. Your endorphins are going. All of these guys have been through different battles on the ice to where some of that might come back a little bit. They're going to raise a lot of money. 'Chaser' talks about Siteman's all the time and how good they are."

Additional alumni that attended but didn't play included Guy Carbonneau, Doug Weight, Bernie Federko, Martin Brodeur and Bryan Trottier.

Coaches included Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton, former Wisconsin coach Tony Granato and country music star Garth Brooks for the NHL alumni; Hall of Famer Brett Hull and Joel Quenneville for the Blues alumni.

"I honestly wished we didn't have to be here, but we are," Hull said. "I don't think it's particularly unique to hockey. Pretty well every sport, when something like this comes up, nobody's going to say no. This just shows the hockey family that we have and it's not just 'Chaser,' there's a number of guys that have fallen ill and to get them all together and see the guys you haven't seen in forever that you played with and against.

“To see them and to visit and to tell stories, everyone's smiling but deep down everyone knows it's kind of a somber reason we're here, but we're here to make sure everyone recognizes what it's all about and raise some money to help one day get a cure for all these terrible things."

The Blues alumni are hosting an online auction to raise money, giving fans a chance to bid on rare autographed jerseys from current NHL players, including Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings, David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins, Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators and Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders. The bidding is currently open and runs through Saturday at 6 p.m. ET at blues.givesmart.com.