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Bublé doesn’t participate in charity game, makes up for it with $100,000 donation

Michael Buble

Michael Bublé admits he “wimped out” after pulling himself from the line-up of Wednesday’s “Bieksa’s Buddies” charity hockey game in Vancouver, but we suppose we can’t be too hard on the guy – not after he matched the $100,000 the event raised for various good causes with a $100,000 donation of his own.

The sold-out game, organized by Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa and played in front of 5,000 fans, pitted the likes of Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Dan Hamhuis, Manny Malhotra, Max Lapierre and Cory Schneider versus the University of British Columbia men’s hockey team.

“Honestly I wanted to play but I think I wimped out a bit,” said Bublé. “Nerves got the best of me. But I’m glad I didn’t. It was fast, even faster than a lot of the boys actually thought it would be. If this was my only chance to watch NHL hockey this year, I surely didn’t want to mess it up.”

Injured Canucks Ryan Kesler, Jason Garrison and Alex Edler were also on hand.

After falling behind 7-3, Bieksa’s team stormed back with five unanswered goals to win the game, 8-7.

After the game, Daniel Sedin was asked if he was more optimistic about the CBA negotiations after the NHL tabled a new offer Tuesday.

“When I first heard about it, I was really positive,” he said. “But we went through it and it wasn’t as positive. But it is a starting point. I just wish the starting point was in April.”