Molly McMaster To Sign and Play For Jackals Wednesday
March 6, 2006 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Elmira Jackals News Release
Elmira, NY - The Elmira Jackals announced today that they will sign Molly McMaster to a contract and she will start against the Rockford IceHogs Wednesday night at the First Arena. She will also hold a press conference at 5 pm Tuesday afternoon.
As part of a league-wide initiative called The UHL Cross-Checks Colon, Wilton, NY native and colon cancer survivor Molly McMaster is making history in the United Hockey League. McMaster, who has been playing amateur hockey for 11 years, will become the first woman to dress and skate in a game with the Elmira Jackals as they take on the Rockford IceHogs on Wednesday March 8th, 2006 for a 7:05 pm face off.
McMaster will hold a press conference open to all local media Tuesday afternoon, March 7th at 5:00 pm in the restaurant located on the 2nd floor of the First Arena. This will be the only chance for media to have a formal question and answer session prior to her on-ice appearance with the Jackals Wednesday night. McMaster will also be joined by representatives of the local Faulk Cancer Center for the press conference.
McMaster, who celebrated her 30th birthday on February 19th, has played for five of the 14 UHL teams so far. She will cross paths twice with the Jackals, once in an Elmira uniform on Wednesday and again on March 26th in Roanoke, her last game of the month-long tour. She has joined a select number of women who have played men's professional hockey, and an even smaller number who have played out of the net. Her first professional game was February 26 for her hometown team, the Adirondack Frostbite.
McMaster's ice time in March will be the highlight of "The UHL Cross-Checks Colon Cancer," the UHL's 2006 campaign for National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. The Trashers and the entire UHL are supporting colorectal cancer awareness through an alliance with The Colon Club, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to educating about the disease in out-of-the-box ways. McMaster, President and Co-Founder of The Colon Club, was diagnosed with stage II colon cancer on February 19, 1999 - her 23rd birthday. She celebrated her 30th birthday and her seventh year cancer-free exactly one week before playing her first professional game.
This latest stunt is just one of many in which McMaster has participated since her diagnosis. She inline skated 2,000 miles across the country in 2000 for "Rolling to Recovery;" in 2002 created the nationally-known Colossal Colon®, a crawl-through model of the human colon; co-founded The Colon Club in 2003; and in 2005 unveiled the first ColondarSM, an annual calendar of young colorectal cancer survivors.
"Colorectal cancer is not just a 50-year-old white man's disease. It can happen to anyone at any time," said McMaster.
"We are very happy to have Molly with the Jackals for this wonderful promotion," said First Arena General Manager Mike Marinaccio. "We give her all the credit in the world for overcoming such a dangerous disease, especially at such a young age. Her personal achievements and her methods of spreading awareness through hockey are nothing short of heroic."
The alliance between the organizations is made possible by the generosity of Fleet Laboratories. Activities will include McMaster's game participation, announcements, and educational handouts at all games in March. The Jackals and all UHL players will wear patches on their home jerseys that depict a blue star, the universal symbol for colorectal cancer, and Fleet will provide fun and educational giveaways for fans at the game on March 1. Fleet's mascot, EneManTM, will also make a special appearance at the game, and The Colon Club will give away limited edition Molly McMaster trading cards.
For more information about colorectal cancer, Molly McMaster, and The Colon Club,
visit www.colonclub.com
Molly and the Jackals will battle with the Rockford IceHogs on Wednesday, March 8th at 7:05 pm at the First Arena. Elmira will then hit the road for three games, Friday in Danbury, and a weekend double-header in Adirondack.
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