Hockey with a lot of heart

Hockey is a sport that has long united Canadians, and is a massive generator of revenue.

One Sudbury man has drawn the connection between those two factors and spent the last month traveling all over the city, raising funds in hopes of bringing the game of hockey to more children.

Cody Duguay, owner of Hasbeen Hockey Apparel, has been decked out in full hockey equipment for 30 days, stopping at different local businesses around Sudbury raising money, and he made the final stop of his journey at Shoeless Joe's on Regent Street on Nov. 4.

“I wake up in the morning and put the stuff on, I go to work like this, I've been to the bar like this, I've gone on a date like this, the grocery store, pretty much everywhere,” said Duguay. “I'm committed to this and to letting everyone know what I'm doing.”

Over the course of one month, Duguay raised $4,000, which he will donate to Northern Ontario Families of Children with Cancer (NOFCC).

On Nov. 4 Duguay set up shop at Shoeless Joe's with a hockey net and a pile of sticks, as well as a radar gun to test the speed of participants' slap shots.

For $5, bar patrons were given the opportunity to take three shots and have their fastest shot recorded for a chance to win a Molson beer fridge that was donated as a prize.

NOFCC board member Areeda Mohammed was on hand on Nov. 4 to take her best shot on net, and congratulate Cody on his work.

“He's been amazing and he's making a dream come true for a child with cancer,” said Mohammed. “A lot of these children are into sports, even though they may be in treatment or recovering, they're pumped to get back into sports. It's an amazing cause.”

Shoeless Joe's was chosen as the final destination thanks to a mutual friend of Duguay and restaurant owner Jesse Martel who put the two in touch for a wrap up party.

“We have a mutual friend who works at NOFCC and Cody really likes this place he's been in here before, so we wanted to help out and do whatever we could that would get the biggest return for NOFCC,” said Martel.

Offering the restaurant as a host facility was just one contribution made by Martel and the staff at Shoeless Joe's, as they were also able to bring in numerous prizes from Molson and Labatt, as well as hotel stays to raffle off in order to raise funds.

“I'm also going to look to my servers to make a contribution at the end of the night as well,” said Martel.

For more on Hasbeen Hockey Apparel visit their website, and for more on NOFCC, check them out online at nofcc.ca.