March 29, 2024

Portraits of Honour Foundation hosted a charity hockey game on Friday in which Toronto Maple Leaf alumni players faced off against first responders to raise money for police officers and military with PTSD.

The event took place at the Galt Arena Gardens in Cambridge, Ont., where almost 1,000 attendees got the chance to watch their favourite NHL players of the past face off in a game of hockey.

Dave Sopha, founder of Portraits of Honour, said the event was aimed at raising awareness of PTSD in first responders, all while bringing the community together for a friendly game of hockey.

“Just to bring it into our community, I think is wonderful,” said Sopha. “The mayor is excited, all the regional councillors, MPs and that, so it’s kind of nice.”

Former Toronto Maple star Rick Vaive said that it was exciting to be back on the ice.

“I love it. It’s a lot of fun. Especially these ones, with people who do so much for the country and help people. It’s a no brainer,” said Vaive.

Although the Maple Leafs took the game 13-9, Vaive said that the first responders put up a good fight.

“We got a pretty good skilled team here today. Normally there are times where we have teams where all the guys are 55 or older and they’re not quite as fast or good,” said Vaive.

“But we got a younger team and a little faster, so we’re giving them a hard time, but we’re trying to let them stay in the game and make it exciting.”

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