Light the Night:

Once again this season, the Dallas Stars Front Office employees pledged their time for the 2010 “Light the Night Walk.” The entire office registered and participated in the walk, and were encouraged to raise funds to support this annual event, which benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light The Night Walk is the nation's night to pay tribute and bring hope to those who are battling cancer. Walks take place in communities throughout the United States and Canada, typically in the fall. On these special nights, thousands of participants carry illuminated balloons and raise funds for vital, lifesaving research and patient services.

On Sunday, October 24th, the Stars Front Office team participated in Light The Night Walk in downtown Dallas, starting at Main Street Garden. Employees exceeded their goal of $15,000 and raised a total of $18,809 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to celebrate and commemorate lives touched by cancer. The Dallas Stars brought in further revenue for LLS through the form of grants from the Dallas Stars Foundation and the NHL, as well as a portion of ticket sales for the October 24th game via Ticketmaster. All of the Dallas Stars efforts combined to raise a grand total of $39,609 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The Dallas Stars team came in second place in Corporate Team Revenue in Dallas, and the team revenue increased 61% from 2009. The Light the Night walk was once again a huge success and we look forward to another successful event in 2011.

Hockey Fights Cancer

The Dallas Stars held their annual Hockey Fights Cancer night on Thursday as the team hosted the St. Louis Blues.

The Stars recognized and raised money for several charitable organizations for their efforts in cancer research – Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Mary Crowley Cancer Research Centers, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Cancer patients from these organizations got the opportunity to participate in some fun behind the scenes activites such as: serving as the Dr Pepper Stick Kid, sitting in the penalty boxes during warm-ups, and sitting on the player bench post-game.

All of the money raised Thursday night will be divided equally among these four groups. Just under $10,000 was raised through the silent auction at the Dallas Stars Foundation table, ticket sales, and collections at the door by the Dallas Stars Wives and girlfriends (special thanks to Anne-Marie Morrow, Geena Fistric, Holly Barch, Kristy Daley and Erica Halbrook – Steve Ott’s girlfriend).

The Foundation had a very successful silent auction consisting of sticks and other memorabilia. Sticks used by Kari Lehtonen, Sheldon Souray, Stephane Robidas, Mike Ribeiro, Steve Ott and Loui Eriksson during warm-ups were auctioned at the table, with the winners getting the opportunity to go downstairs after the game and meet the player.

Ralph Strangis and Daryl Reaugh auctioned off their Hockey Fights Cancer ties from years past, and the winners were invited to come up to the booth to watch the post-game show, and to the winners’ surprise, Ralph and Razor put them on the show.

Stars players have been wearing Hockey Fights cancer decals on their helmets all month. Coaches, broadcasters and front office execs donned lavender Hockey Fights Cancer ties. The sticks that were not auctioned off at the game Thursday night will be auctioned off online on the NHL website later this month. The proceeds from the auction will also be divided among the previously mentioned organizations.

For more information and to support upcoming events for these local organizations, please see below:

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network:
Upcoming race on November 13
To register, please visit the following link:
http://purplestride.kintera.org/faf/help/helpEventInfo.asp?ievent=483398&lis=1&kntae483398=46E853CE09484FEEB820B687EF544A94

Mary Crowley Cancer Research Centers:
Upcoming Run/Walk on October 29
To register, please visit the following link and search for Mary Crowley Crawlers to join the Mary Crowley team: http://support.ccalliance.org/site/TR?fr_id=1480&pg=entry

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society:
Light the Night walk on October 22 in Plano or October 30 in Dallas
To register or join a team, please visit the following link: http://www.lightthenight.org/
To support the Dallas Stars Light the Night Walk team, please visit: http://pages.lightthenight.org/ntxok/DallasL11/DallasStars

Susan G. Komen For the Cure
To find a local Race for the Cure please visit: http://apps.komen.org/raceforthecure/

Pro Players Foundation

The Dallas Stars are working in conjunction with the Pro Players Foundation to enrich the lives of children in our community. More details to follow.

About the Pro Players Foundation
The Pro Players Foundation is a group of professional athletes and business and community leaders who volunteer their time and talents to assist disadvantaged youth. PPF, through its Instant RePlay Program, works in conjunction with each of the major professional sports teams in North Texas to renovate or refurbish existing non-profit, municipal or school sports facilities in disadvantaged areas. With the mission of “Enriching the Lives of Children,” PPF uses a variety of initiatives to help make sure every child has the ability to succeed and has the opportunity for a bright future. Additional PPF programs include: Character Camps – Professional athletes conducting day-long instructional clinics in a particular sport interspersed with sessions on a full range of life skills; and Play it Forward USA – High school athletes collect and refurbish gently used sports equipment of all types which is then donated to leagues, teams and players in need. For more information, please visit http://www.proplayersfoundation.com.

Movember

As November came to a close, the donations for Movember, the month long drive to spur prostate cancer awareness, were tallied up and the Dallas Stars finished with the second-most donations among NHL clubs, second only to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The entire league raised a total of $220,000 but the Stars did have the top individual player when it came to donations in forward Eric Nystrom, who brought in $5,636. Nystrom sported a righteous handlebar moustache for much of the month, a look he continues to sport today, and wanted to thank all who donated to Movember for their support.

“My family and friends were willing to kick out the dough. I just put the word out and my family and friends stepped up to the plate, donated money,” Nystrom said. “It’s for a great cause, so why wouldn’t you? I had a couple of people on Twitter contributing five bucks per goal or point, so that’s a pretty unique motivator and earned a few dollars. I’ve got a lot of people to thank for that.”

Defenseman Mark Fistric spearheaded the Stars’ efforts for Movember and was pleased with seeing his club finish second in the league among donations.

“Yeah, it was great. We raised right around $13,000 dollars in around a month for something as simple as growing a moustache,” Fistric said. “Guys on the team were great who grew it. Eric [Nystrom] was a big part of it and he raised a lot of money for the cause. I think in all, it was a great success and hopefully it becomes a tradition for the Dallas Stars.”

He even weighed on who he thought sported the best moustache during Movember among his teammates.

“I think Jake Dowell had a really good ‘stache. He had the handlebars going and he looked mean,” Fistric said. “I think Eric [Nystrom] would have been a little better if he had kept the beard shaved a little better throughout the month. I think the guys did a great job. It was for a great cause and we raised a lot of money for men’s prostate cancer.”

Center Steve Ott was one of several Stars who also grew a ‘stache for the cause. He too is impressed with how much money the group was able to raise last month.

 “Absolutely, it’s pretty cool that our fans and other people in the community and friends and family donated the amount that they did,” Ott said. “To see how everybody was on board with us and to make it second behind the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have a tremendous following, says a lot.”

Not only were the Stars players taking part in Movember but several staff members also grew their facial hair for the cause. However, most who participated in the month had shaved their facial hair by the end of the day on Wednesday, the final day of November.

Current starting goaltender Andrew Raycroft was sporting his ‘stache after practice on Wednesday but admitted it would be gone right after he got home. Raycroft was true to his word as his facial hair was gone for Thursday’s morning skate.

Still, there was one holdout as of Thursday and he even admitted his handlebar look will likely go away after tonight’s game against Ottawa at American Airlines Center.

“No, this is it tonight. Barring a win and a hat trick, then it might stay,” Nystrom said.