JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The
Johnstown Tomahawks today announced the first annual Johnstown
Tomahawks Charity Classic benefiting the Pittsburgh Kids Foundation–Haiti
and the Johnstown Tomahawks Foundation has been cancelled due to the
recent tentative agreement reached between the National Hockey League
(NHL) and the NHL Players Association for a new collective bargaining
agreement.
Johnstown Tomahawks President Rick Bouchard said the team was advised
by the Pittsburgh Penguins’ players participating in the charity event
that upcoming training camp and insurance concerns over potential player
injuries contributed to the decision to cancel the game.
“While we’re excited the NHL and the NHL Players Association reached an
agreement on a new labor contract, we’re obviously disappointed for our
fans and supporters who helped us sell out the game for our two worthy
charities,” said Bouchard. “We want our fans and ticketholders to know
that we will be providing full refunds. Our fans and the Johnstown
community have fully embraced our team and we apologize for any
inconvenience this may have caused.”
The Tomahawks Charity Classic game was scheduled to take place
Wednesday, January 9th at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena and
feature NHL and Tomahawks players.
Pittsburgh Penguin Matt Cooke, who was a driving force behind the
creation of the charity game and helped the Tomahawks through all stages
of the game’s development, said, “I would like to thank all the fans
and Tomahawks organization, who immediately jumped at the chance to be
involved and help a great charity.”
"We apologize we are unable to make this game a reality because of the
start of the NHL season, but we will look at other opportunities to
assist the Pittsburgh Kids Foundation and the Johnstown community,”
added Cooke. “We look forward to seeing everyone back on the ice in
Pittsburgh".
Tomahawks fans holding tickets for the Charity Classic can obtain full
refunds for the event through the authorized ticket outlet from which
they purchased them. These include the War Memorial Box Office, the
Johnstown Tomahawks front office, and Ticketmaster. Refunds will begin
at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 14. More details and policies can be found at http://pointstreaksites.com/view/johnstowntomahawks/tickets/charity-classic-refund.
In a statement, Dr. Brad Henderson, president of the Pittsburgh Kids
Foundation–Haiti, also noted that while he is grateful the lockout has
ended, he would also like to thank everyone for their dedication to
helping the foundation.”“On behalf of the Pittsburgh Kids Foundation I want to wholeheartedly thank the Tomahawks fans and management for their enthusiasm and willingness to support our work in Haiti. I also want to thank the Penguin players who had planned to play in the charity game as well.”
Both Bouchard and General Manager and Director of Hockey Operations
Rick Boyd emphasized the Tomahawks will continue working hard towards
their goal of building an exciting brand of hockey and providing the
kind of creative game experiences fans have come to expect from the
team.
“The cancellation of this event is very unfortunate, and our entire
hockey family is disappointed that as a community we are not able to
proceed with the game, which would ultimately help benefit two wonderful
non-profit organizations,” said Boyd. “While the NHL players return to
work, we look forward to working with them in the future to create
opportunities to raise awareness and funds for such worthy causes. We
would like to acknowledge and give sincere gratitude to our fans and the
community for the overwhelming support they have shown for this event.”(Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)
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