Panthers coach Boughner gives back with 'Black Tie Tailgate'

Think of it as a blue-collar version of a black-tie affair.
In what has become a summer tradition for Florida Panthers coach Bob Boughner and his wife, Jenn, the couple ditched their formal wear in favor of blue jeans, boots and cowboy hats to host the third-annual "Black Tie Tailgate" in Tecumseh, Ontario on Aug. 17.

With hundreds of partygoers descending upon to the Beach Grove Golf and Country Club, the sold-out event succeeded in raising more than $100,000 for local charities, including the W.E. Care for Kids Foundation and the Windsor Spitfires Foundation.
Since its inception in 2006, the Windsor Spitfires Foundation has raised more than $500,000.
"When I bought the Windsor Spitfires, I immediately started the foundation," said Boughner, who still serves as President of the Spitfires. "This is our big foundation event for the year. We do a lot of little events, but that's by far the biggest one. It's a fun event. We've got all of the who's who in our community to come out and support it. It also brings some hockey guys around."
In addition to Spitfires alumni, local celebrities from the Windsor-Essex area also frequent the event. For entertainment, Boughner pulls his friend and Nashville-based country singer Jake Maurer off the streets of Broadway and across the northern border to serenade the crowd.
"He comes down with his band every year," Boughner said. "They put on a gala performance."
A native of Windsor, Ontario, Boughner coached the Spitfires for eight seasons (2006-10, 2011-15) after heading an ownership group that purchased the junior club in 2006. The CHL's Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2009, he led Windsor to back-to-back Memorial Cups in 2009 and 2010.
Now behind the bench in South Florida, Boughner, who is coming off a successful first season with the Panthers in which he coached the club to within one point of the playoffs, admits that planning for the annual tailgate has actually become quite the year-round process for his family.
From confirming guests to searching for interesting auction items, the 47-year-old coach, who spent 10 seasons in the NHL manning the blue line for six different clubs before moving behind the bench, is always doing "lots and lots of planning" behind the scenes for the annual event.
But in the end, it's all worth it.
"When it all comes together at the end of the night, you sit back and get a nice feeling about being able to raise that kind of money and then give it out throughout the year to people that need it," Boughner said. "It's been a great thing. We're going to keep it going again next year."
\Photo courtesy of Windsor Spitfires*