*Pictures coming soon!

The Cincinnati Firefighters Hockey Club is organized to promote sportsmanship by giving back to the community and raising funds for charities. President Bryan Schmidlapp approached local cancer related charities, along with HP4K, and chose to give all proceeds from the night to these organizations.

There were donations at the door, auction items, dinner and dancing. Patrons could bid on a Cincinnati Cyclones or HP4K Classic jersey, Jonny Gomes signed picture along with four Reds’ tickets, or a Ben Roethlisberger Steelers jersey. Other smaller items were up for auction and raffle throughout the night.

A few Cincinnati Cyclones were in attendance: Dustin Sproat, Barret Ehgoetz, Dan Eves, and Scott Reynolds as well as former Cyclone and European player Matt Macdonald. The guys were happy to sign autographs and mingle with all fans and diners; a few even made it out to the dance floor during the evening.

Everyone who came out for the Hockey Fights Cancer event contributed to a very successful evening for all of the organizations involved. Through the generous donations funds were raised and awareness was brought to the ongoing fight against cancer.

The Golf Center at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio was home to this year’s celebrity golf tournament. The publicity from this event brings awareness to the foundations commitment to local kids in crisis. The Mathis Foundation for Children is dedicated to supporting and engaging youth living in substitute care, and providing encouragement necessary to succeed in an educational environment.

This year two of our members were asked to play alongside other professional athletes, television, radio and national personalities. Barret Ehgoetz and Matt Macdonald teed off on both days of the event. The days were long, hot and humid but the guys enjoyed every second of their time out there.

“It was an honor to be considered for this event,” said Macdonald, “The tournament was full of great people who were dedicated to supporting the Mathis Foundation’s initiative.”

The ECHL on Friday announced that Cincinnati’s Dustin Sproat and Elmira’s Chris Frank have been named co-recipients of the inaugural ECHL Community Service Award.

Each ECHL team was given the opportunity to nominate one player for their efforts in community and charitable causes during the 2010-11 season. The nominations were voted on by League Office personnel.

Sproat was one of the driving forces behind the creation of Hockey Players for Kids (HP4K) in March 2009. HP4K’s mission is to harness the leadership, enthusiasm and public goodwill of the most exceptional people playing professional hockey in communities throughout North America, and use it to positively impact the lives of local children.

Frank has developed relationships with children and adults in need during this season through his volunteering at the Elmira Psychiatric Center. He has spent a significant amount of his time away from the rink helping and connecting with patients through involvement in the patient’s therapeutic and recreational groups, and eating dinner with the children.

In addition to his efforts at the Elmira Psychiatric Center, Frank has also met with patients at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Elmira and has brought children to watch Jackals’ games. Frank has also read to children at schools throughout the community and has participated in an HP4K program called Stick to Reading, a player-designed curriculum that encourages students to read on a more frequent basis.

The other nominees for the 2010-11 ECHL Community Service Award were: Jean-Marc Beaudoin (Bakersfield), Matt Schepke (Greenville), Andy Brandt (Gwinnett), Cody Lampl (Idaho), Barry Goers (Las Vegas), Shawn Germain (Ontario), John Scrymgeour (Reading), Jordan Pietrus (South Carolina), Daryl Marcoux (Stockton), Kyle Page (Toledo), Jeff Lerg (Trenton), and David Shantz (Victoria).

Patients at the Center range in age — from 5 to 90 — and benefit from a wide array of comprehensive psychiatric services. Chris has worked with both children and adults, but finds that his niche is spending quality time with the kids. Chris assists the Center’s Recreation, Rehabilitation and Intensive Case Management staff in providing safe, structured activities for the children, in which they learn and experience positive attributes such as self control, confidence, good self esteem, and good sportsmanship.

As of mid-March, Chris has logged more than 90 hours at the Center, mentoring, interacting with and offering an ear to kids in need.

In a letter written by the Center’s Supervisor of Rehabilitation, Joanne Hastrich, she expresses great admiration for Frank. “It is not often that we see this kind of person, who so freely gives of their time, seeming to get as much out of the experience as the patients receive from him. He is able to connect with some of our children and adults in ways that our paid professionals have not.  Chris’s easygoing manner has allowed some patients to trust him and open up to him with their personal interests and struggles.“

Chris tells us that his visits usually begin by spending the morning with some of the adult patients. He will usually sit in on some group sessions and give the adults the opportunity to speak more about what’s on their mind, rather than their disabilities. Around 3 p.m. he visits with the kids during their gym time. Many of the children who are patients are dealing with behavioral issues and gym time gives them a chance to put that energy into playing and learning. Chris helps to teach them the importance of sportsmanship, team-building, and how to follow simple rules — something Chris can give a first person account of due to his hockey career.

Staying for dinner is something he does often as well, and Chris enjoys spending time visiting each table to speak one-on-one with the kids. “Conversations vary from who the best superhero is to, ‘Does is hurt to get punched in the face?’” said Chris.

Chris has even been able to help organize day trips where kids are rewarded for good behavior with attending a Jackals game. The ones who attend get to high-five the Jackals as they come out for warm-ups and even get to explore the locker room. A skating clinic was put together at one point for the kids who were on their best behavior. About 10-15 people participated in the clinic and one boy in particular really took to the hockey program. Chris was able to meet with him for one-on-one sessions after the group clinic.

“The most exciting part of that whole experience for me,” said Chris, “was meeting the children’s families and seeing what their family environment was like.”

Chris Frank is a perfect example of how it takes just giving a little of yourself and your time in order to make a big difference in someone’s life.

MVK is an organization that distributes donated and unused event tickets to a number of local groups. The Cyclones have decided to focus on three groups specifically that interact with MVK: The Brighton Center: Leadership Program, St. Joseph Orphanage – Altercrest Campus, and Boys Hope Girls Hope. The team has been regularly donating weekday complimentary tickets to MVK in order to get these and other kids in the area out to games they may otherwise not get the opportunity to see.

Back in November, a number of Cyclones players visited St. Joe’s — a comprehensive housing and treatment facility for adolescent males between the ages of 12 and 16 with emotional and behavioral disorders — and spent time playing and talking with the kids. Later, the residents were given the opportunity to prove who could be the most well-behaved over the next few weeks and the best kids were rewarded with tickets to a Cyclones game. The boys even got the chance to participate in this year’s Give Moore for the Holidays event, when Cyclones players visited them once more and donated money to purchase gifts for Christmas.

Tickets have also been distributed to the girls of Boys Hope Girls Hope after some Cyclones players spent the day talking to them about their aspirations for college and their futures. The girls live together in a supervised home where they are responsible for  things like cooking and other household chores.

“This organization gives a great opportunity to gifted kids from underprivileged families by giving them the ability to have a stable home, and go to schools that will better prepare them for college,” said Ehgoetz.

Another group of several Cyclones players visited The Brighton Center: Leadership Program back in November to discuss the importance of higher education and goal setting. Everyone was very excited and there were many questions from the kids about how to put into effect the goals they have for their future. The students were even brought to U.S. Bank Arena in early February to learn up-close-and-personal about the responsibilities of everyone involved in putting together a professional hockey organization. (See the full story here.)

Each of these outstanding Cincinnati-area organizations were brought out to a game in February 2011 due to the tickets donated by players throughout the season via MVK.

Mike Madill at a Learn to Skate Session

Hockey may not seem like something you’d associate with Asia, but HP4K members Mike Madill and Bruce Mulherin are trying to change that. Mike is currently playing for the Nippon Paper Cranes in Kushiro City, Hokkaido (Japan), while Bruce has been on the other side of the world with the Tohoku Free Blades (Japan) since the start of the 2009 season.

Both guys have used this great opportunity to get involved with their local communities. Even with language barriers and cultural differences, each one has found a way to interact with the fans through team functions and spending time with children.

On the northern island of Hokkaido, Mike and the entire Paper Cranes team have conducted a few meet-and-greets where fans can come onto the ice and hang out with the players. They take pictures, meet their favorite players and enjoy running around with local stars. Around 200 fans typically show up for these events, covering the ice with books and pucks for their favorite players to sign.

Back on the main island, Bruce Mulherin and his teammates, Go Tanaka and Satoru Kazu, have conducted learn-to-skate classes for 45 kids from Tamonogi Elementary School. Hockey may not be the biggest Japanese sport, but it’s gaining recognition through these events and the “skate culture” is starting to spread throughout the city of Hachinohe.

Bruce Mulherin Working with the Kids

“We have the school kids practice the fundamentals of skating and play games like tag and relay races,” said Mulherin. “Winners from various contests were given things like mini-sticks, shirts and pucks.” The MVP of the day was even given a Mulherin game-used and signed stick. Mulherin later learned that the stick was given back to the entire school and hung up in their hallway for everyone to see.

“I guess the stick now hangs next to a message board signed by all of us along with a message that reads Ganbatte, which is a word of encouragement that means good luck or do your best,” Mulherin said.

Even with cultural differences and the language barrier, both of HP4K’s reps in Asia are doing everything they can to get involved in their cities. They are learning the basics of the language every day but say they are lucky to have so many other guys on the team willing to help out at these community events. “I am fortunate to have my two other teammates out there to help translate most things, but the kids love it when I test my Japanese on them — and they think it’s even funnier when I respond with an English word when charades don’t work!” said Mulherin.

“Working with children in Japan is special because they are so happy and always smiling. They are so respectful and attentive, and are super enthusiastic about all the events we plan for them.” – Bruce Mulherin

Scott Lehman, Mastermind

Thanks to the great people at The Hockey News for giving a shout-out to HP4K and the efforts of Cincinnati Cyclones players in creating the “I’m On the ‘Clones” music video.

Click here to read the full article from The Hockey News’ website.

*   *   *

The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. It’s published 34 times a year, including seven special issues – the Season Opener, People of Power and Influence, Future Watch, Draft Preview, Season In Review, The Best Of Everything in Hockey and the Yearbook, the #1 selling hockey annual in North America.

Greg Wyshynski for Yahoo! Sports and the Puck Daddy blog created a write-up on the world premiere release of I’m on the ‘Clones music video. Click here to read his post and check out the video!

Check out the article and the blog by clicking here.