On Sunday, Oct. 28, over 20 NHL players will participate in a charity game at the University of Minnesota to raise funds for Defending The Blue Line, an organization ensuring children of military members can participate in the game of hockey.
It promises to be a star-studded affair.
Headlining the game will be the Wild’s two big summer signings -- Zach Parise and Ryan Suter -- along with a host of other NHL players:
George Parros, Clayton Stoner, Keith Ballard, Davis Drewiske, Jack Hillen, Stu Bickel, Darroll Powe, Justin Braun, Erik Johnson, Blake Wheeler, James Van Riemsdyk, Mikko Koivu, Stephane Veilleux, Mike Lundin, Chris Porter, Kyle Okposo, Paul Martin, Kyle Brodziak, Jim O’Brien, Cal Clutterbuck and Ryan Carter.
Now, for the interesting part -- the date of the game is, as you might’ve noticed, Oct. 28...yet the NHL has only canceled games through Oct. 24.
Defending The Blue Line has addressed this issue:
In the event the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL & NHLPA is settled prior to the event, DTBL reserves the right to provide an alternate game, or convert the monies spent on event tickets to a charitable donation to DTBL.
Player list will be subject to change pending players taking contracts in Europe or other markets.
So there’s the disclaimer.
At same time, you have to wonder where the players’ heads are at with regards to a deal getting done, given that 22 of them have verbally committed to playing on the 28th.