Players from Les Canadiennes, this year’s Clarkson Cup winners, as well as some notable NHL alumni joined several local celebrities to take part in an all-day hockey marathon at the Pierrefonds sports complexe on Saturday.
The Montreal Media Celebrity Hockey Marathon is now in its 14th year, with funds raised benefiting the Otis Grant and Friends Foundation.
The foundation got its start in 1999, not long after Grant– who was a world champion boxer — was released from hospital after suffering a major accident.
Grant told Global News he was in a coma for a week and spent over a month in hospital recovering from his injuries.
“When I got out of hospital that fall, I was asked by a local community program if I’d loan my name to help them with a food drive,” he said.
The drive was so successful that food needed to be redistributed to other organizations.
That’s when Grant had his light-bulb moment.
“That’s how I realized I could use my name and give back to people in need in the community,” he said.
Since its inception, the foundation’s reach has grown.
“We went from food to education –we give scholarships to families with medical needs, families that are underprivileged — and we send kids to summer camp” Grant said. “So we do a lot of grassroots stuff.”
WATCH BELOW: Boxer Otis Grant and hockey player Julie Chu join Global’s Laura Casella to talk about the media hockey marathon to raise funds for the Otis Grant Foundation.
And that’s where the tournament comes in.
“The money is raised from this tournament and we put it back in the community through the various programs we’re associated with,” Grant explained.
And that’s something hockey player Julie Chu can get behind, even if it means having to wake up early on a Saturday.
“It’s something that I’m passionate about, giving back to the community,” she said. “It’s a fun day where we can raise funds for great causes playing hockey.”
This year, the hockey marathon also partnered up with Play it Forward Kids.
Participating teams and members of the community were asked to donate used equipment to give to kids who want to play hockey but don’t necessarily have the financial means required to participate in the sport.