Back in November, 2010, during the height of our polar bear tourism season in Churchill, Manitoba, 1000 km south in Winnipeg a few folks from our organization participated in the first annual Mike Keane Celebrity Hockey Classic. The one-day tournament was established to benefit Continuity Care, to which the FNA family has a personal connection. Continuity Care is a non-profit organization that provides programs and resources for families with members that possess intellectual disabilities. Also benefitting from the fundraising hockey tournament is the Manitoba Moose Yearling Foundation.
The tournament is called a ‘celebrity’ classic because depending on the amount of money our team fundraises determines the teams order in the draft of an ex-NHL‘er onto our team. We drafted Dave Gagner who played nine years in the Stars organization. Having Dave in the dressing room and on the ice was a blast. The best part was hearing Dave recount hockey lore and stories from his time in the pros, learning about his role now with the Vancouver Canucks and about his son playing with the Edmonton Oilers. The tournament’s namesake, Mike Keane, is a Winnipegger and three-time Stanley Cup winner (Montreal Canadiens, 1993; Colorado Avalanche, 1996; Dallas Stars, 1999).
Out of 16 teams in the tournament, the Frontiers North Adventurers ended-up fundraising the sixth-most ($14,795 CAD), not bad for a little company like ours out against larger organizations with thousands of employees! The total amount fundraised by the event was approximately $425,000 CAD, costs hovered around $100,000 so that means the tournament realized a better-than 25% cost-of-fundraising ration, which is a great fundraising ratio (we understand typical fundraising ratios are between 33%-50%). In other words the tournament was a tremendous success!
Frontiers North is a small company, and in order to assemble a roster of dynamic fundraisers/stellar hockey players, we looked to tourism industry partners, vendors and colleagues. We are thankful for the support our teammates mustered-up and proud of their play. We all had a great time!
| Player | Position | Sponsoring Organization | Fundraised Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Cowtan | G | Frontiers North Adventures | $300.00 |
| Graeme Lowe | D | Gary Busey Div C Champs, Summer 2010 Highlander Beer League | $395.00 |
| Lionel Johnston | D | Travel Manitoba | $405.00 |
| Brian Coughlin | D | Cardinal Capital | $1,650.00 |
| Nick Cringan | D | McKim Cringan George | $400.00 |
| Reg Bell | D | Frontiers North Adventures | $1,515.00 |
| John Leggat | D | Cropo Funeral Chapel | $1,175.00 |
| John Gunter | F | Frontiers North Adventures | $3,050.00 |
| Lucas Secerbegovic | F | Frank Wade RBCDS | $375.00 |
| Justin Funke | F | Daemon Defense Systems | $550.00 |
| Dan Swanton | F | Continuity Care | $1,655.00 |
| Todd Baigrie | F | Mylan Pharmaceuticals | $400.00 |
| Tyler Loos | G | Frontiers North Adventures | $875.00 |
| Graham Zakaluk | G | Investors Group | $650.00 |
| Pino Pisano | G | Continuity Care | $300.00 |
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- Frontiers North Adventurers
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- Mike Keane and Terry Gunter.
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- Dave Gagner, FNA’s John Gunter, Tyler Loos (welder) and Reg Bell (apprentice mechanic).
We’ve already committed our team to participate in the second annual iteration of this event, November 2011. By the way, in the 2010 tournament the Frontiers North Adventurers went 3-0, baby. Jus’ sayin’.
