Lemieux Charity Event Comes Full-Circle for Phantoms Staffer
Published on January 8, 2009 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
BOARDMAN, OH (Thursday, January 8th, 2009) - Final preparations for the Mahoning Valley Phantoms' Mario Lemieux Foundation Night event on Saturday, January 10th at the Chevrolet Centre are underway, and for one Phantoms staff member the event hits a personal note.
"When I was nine years old," says Game Night Operations Director Matt Owens, "I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, the same type of cancer that Mario Lemieux had.
"Not long after my treatment, Mario got my name from a Pittsburgh Pirates charity event in support of cancer patients and, out of nowhere, mailed me autographed picture and a letter from him saying that he was supporting me in my fight.
"As a little kid, that was a pretty neat to get something like that from such a high-profile athlete."
Both would go on to beat Hodgkin's and now Owens, 26, says he's very proud to be able to help give back to Lemieux's charity on Saturday night.
"I think it's very exciting to be working with the Mario Lemieux Foundation this weekend," says the Boardman native, "helping such a worthy cause is always great and the fact that it's Mario Lemieux's cause makes it that much more exciting."
Lemieux spokesman Andrew Parish says that the Foundation is pleased to team up with a person who Mario reached out to in the past.
"The Lemieux Foundation is happy to be working with Matt," says Parish. "He is the perfect example of someone who has overcome Hodgkin's disease and has decided to use that opportunity to help others do the same."
As part of the Phantoms' Mario Lemieux Foundation Night, the team will be auctioning off special edition game-worn jerseys featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins' black, gold and white color scheme with the Foundation logo on the jersey chest.
The team will auction off 24 jerseys worn by Mahoning Valley players in addition to one Mario Lemieux #66 jersey. All jerseys, including the Lemieux uniform, will be autographed by the player whose number they bear.
Winning bidders will also receive an autographed stick from the Phantom whose jersey they buy.
The Mario Lemieux Foundation was formed in 1993 by Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins who had his '93-'94 NHL season cut short when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease.
After a successful battle with Hodgkin's, the eventual NHL Hall of Famer was cancer free but his experience led him to focus on ways to assist those who were not so fortunate.
The main objective of the Mario Lemieux Foundation is to fund promising medical research projects being conducted by talented scientists.
Among the donations made by the Foundation was a five million dollar gift to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to establish the Mario Lemieux Centers for Patient Care and Research in 2001 and a two million dollar gift to the Children's Home of Pittsburgh in 2005.
Saturday's Mario Lemieux Foundation event is the second half of a two-game home series the Phantoms will play against the Motor City Machine. Friday and Saturday night's games are both scheduled for 7:15 PM starts.
The games will be broadcast locally on ESPN Radio 1240, WBBW, and worldwide at MVPPhantoms.com via B2 Networks. The pregame show will begin both nights at 7:00 PM.
North American Hockey League Stories from January 8, 2009
- Diggers Drub North Stars; Marquette Up Next - Traverse City North Stars
- Lemieux Charity Event Comes Full-Circle for Phantoms Staffer - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- Division Play Continues for Phantoms as Machine Comes Calling - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
