Phantoms Jersey Auction Raises Thousands for Charity
Published on January 14, 2009 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
YOUNGSTOWN, OH (Wednesday, January 14th, 2009) - Following their Saturday night game against the Motor City Machine, the Mahoning Valley Phantoms auctioned off the special edition jerseys they wore during the divisional tilt, raising thousands of dollars for cancer research.
The live auction was part of the Phantoms' Mario Lemieux Foundation night, a charity event whose proceeds went to the Foundation and its continued fight against cancer.
During the post-game auction, fans bid on all 24 game-worn jerseys in addition to two Mario Lemieux-autographed uniforms and two other non-worn special edition Foundation jerseys.
Foundation spokesman Andrew Parish considers the auction to have been a big win for everybody involved.
"The Lemieux Foundation sincerely thanks the entire Mahoning Valley Phantoms organization for its support," says Parish. "The jersey auction was a huge success for our cancer and neonatal research initiatives, and the winners of the jersey auctions each have a very unique item to remember the special night."
The high bid of the night was on Phantom forward Brandon Saad's jersey, which went for $500 to one lucky fan. Saad's jersey even beat out the two Lemieux-autographed jerseys which went for $450 and $420, respectively.
All fans who won the bidding on the jerseys worn by Mahoning Valley players also received an autographed stick from their favorite Phantom.
Phantoms Head Coach and General Manager Bob Mainhardt says that despite the foot of snow that fell in the Valley on Saturday, the event still came off without a hitch.
"It was an outstanding evening," says Mainhardt. "We were thrilled to be working with one of the biggest names in hockey history, so it was obviously pretty nice to be able to put something together for Mario and his Foundation.
"And even though the weather didn't exactly cooperate with us, we were still able to have a very nice evening and raise some good money for a great cause."
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.
The Phantoms are off until Friday, January 23rd, when they open another two-game home stand against the Machine. The puck will drop on the North Division contest at 7:15 PM.
North American Hockey League Stories from January 14, 2009
- Phantoms Jersey Auction Raises Thousands for Charity - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- Rangers Home for One - Marquette Rangers
- National Team Development Program Weekly Update - NAHL
- Put Cancer on Ice Weekend Scheduled for January 30-31 - North Iowa Outlaws
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