Recap: Cam Janssen’s Charity Game for Sandy

I was unable to attend Cam Janssen’s charity game to benefit the victims of Hurricane Sandy. However, thanks to the incredible power of Twitter, I was able to obtain a great recap of the night’s festivities thanks to Liz (strgto) on Twitter.

Liz’s recap follows below. A huge, huge thanks to her for shedding some light on what sounded like a great event for an even better cause.

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Hockey fans have been without NHL hockey since June 11th, which is 159 days, but who’s counting? It was a great turnout tonight for Cam Janssen Fights Sandy Hockey Helps Rebuild charity game tonight at Hardee’s IcePlex, the place nearly sold out…actually, it may have, as of Friday night, there were only a few hundred tickets remaining. I had jokingly said that we should show up at 4:30 to get good seats, since tickets were general admission (unless you had $200 VIP tickets). Showing up at 4:30 may have been a good plan, because when we showed up at 6:15 and the line was from the rink to the back door, which is past two other rinks. We started to file into the rink about 20 minutes later where a youth hockey game was wrapping up, everyone was wearing their Blues gear, a few here and there wearing New Jersey Devils gear, and there was one Blackhawks jersey that I counted. After the Zamboni finished up, they started playing music and none other and Angella Sharpe came on the PA system to welcome us to the game. There was minor play by play provided by Jeff (that’s the only way they referred to him) and Tony Twist.

First the 3 refs skated out, one of them had the name Bethman on his jersey, which everyone thought was “Bettman” for a minute, which caused some of the loudest boos I’ve heard since a Red Wings game, then we realized the actual spelling on his jersey and quieted down. Then the players skated onto the ice in black and white jerseys with their name, number and #theplayers on the back and NHLPA on the front. They were still using their normal helmets, shorts and gloves (which helped for the people out there that didn’t know the home teams of the players). The lineup was as follows:

Team Black

Cam Janssen #25

David Backes #42

Derrek Janssen #11 (Cam’s brother, a lot of people asked that)

TJ Oshie #74

Logan Brown #19

Jamal Mayers #21

Alex Pietrangelo #27

Jamie Rivers #6

No Name #2 (literally)

Brock Wilson #7

Brad Winchester #8

Brian Elliot #1

Team White

Andy McDonald #10

Kyle O’Kane #26

Jim Campbell #9

Scotty Nichol #12

Tom Tilley #20

TJ Moor #28

Kevin Shattenkirk #22

Barret Jackman #5

Chris Butler #44

Mark Hale #6

Ty Conklin #1

After the warm up and national anthem, the game started. Not only was it exciting for the fans, but we were close enough to the ice that you could see the big grins on the players faces, which made the game even more fun to watch. Andy McDonald scored the first goal on Elliot and Team White was up 1-0. Soon after the faceoff, there was the first and only penalty called that had Butler in the penalty box for 1 minute for tripping, after this penalty they went to penalty shots. After the penalty kill, Brad Winchester scored for Team Black, I’m going to assume he was assisted by Davis Backes, because even the announcers couldn’t decide who actually scored the goal (no video, no instant replay). Soon after, Cam Janssen scored his first goal of the night for Team Black, putting them up 2-1.

For intermission, there wasn’t any fancy ice games, just the Zamboni, then back to hockey. On to the 2nd. Shattenkirk scores another goal for Team White with the assist from Andy McDonald to tie the game at 2. Oshie was awarded a penalty shot (instead of Team White serving time) and scores on Conklin for a 3-2 lead. Team Black scored again, Cam Janssen, again, score now 4-2 Black Team. For a while, it looked like Team Black was going to just run away with the game, then Team White scored on Elliot with a shot from Craig Smith and the assist from McDonald to bring the score to 4-3. Not long after, Derek Janssen had a penalty shot on Conklin to bring the score to 5-3, Team Black. Team White answered back with a goal from Scotty Nichol and the assist from Shattenkirk and then another goal from TJ Moore. Close to the end of the 2nd period, Cam Janssen scored his 3rd goal of the night to bring the score to 6-5. This was obviously a hat trick for Janssen, causing fans and players to throw their hats and helmets on the ice, includes Brian Elliot sliding his mask out there too. That pretty much ended the 2nd period.

The 3rd period, it was almost over, I was starting to get sad…when would we see these guys again?! Team Black started out with a goal from Backes followed by a goal from Mayers (assisted by Oshie and Pietrangelo) to bring the score to 8-6 Team Black. Andy McDonald missed his second penalty shot of the night right after this, his first one was sometime in the 2nd period. Team White was not done yet, O’Kane scored assisted by who else? Andy McDonald. Brad Winchester answered back, bringing the score to 9-7. After the Winchester goal, it was pretty much a free for all. The guys had been hamming it up all night, Elliot sliding across the ice, hitting Shattenkirk on the head when he scored on him. There was another goal scored by Team White, but I don’t know who scored it, they didn’t even announce it, Either way, the final score was 9-8, Team Black. Once the final buzzer sounded, the players started “fighting” there were gloves on the ground, someone pulled off Cam Janssen’s jersey, I mean the way games normally end… After that, Cam thanked the fans for coming out and Angella said we’ll see you again…someday. The players stuck around, took some pictures on the ice, then came out and took pictures with the fans and signed autographs.

It was a great night and a great game, the fans cheered when either team scored, we had “Let’s Go Blues” “ELLLIIIIOTTTT” and “We Want Hockey” chants, we had the horn guy, really we were just missing the t-shirt guy, really. While I don’t hold out hope that we will have an NHL season, this game was a reminder that when the game comes back, I’ll still buy tickets and go to the game because it’s these players that love the game like these guys that make it fun to watch.