Skip navigation

Pink sticks to be a ‘tribute to hockey moms’

NHL players using them this weekend also cite breast cancer awareness

Special feature
Joe Sakic prepares for a face off with Pavel Datsyuk
NHL free agency
Top unrestricted players available

NBCSports.com

Slideshow
Russia v Canada
  Who's hot on Twitter?
Check out which of your favorite athletes have the best pages and most followers!

NBCSports.com

Special feature
Vancouver Canucks v Chicago Blackhawks - Game Four
Icy Hot
Check out the Ice Girls from around the National Hockey League.
  NHL on NBC
Stanley Cup Penguins Red Wings Hockey
AP

Penguins defeat Red Wings
to win third Stanley Cup
NHL on NBC coverage

updated 9:37 p.m. ET March 16, 2006

WALLACEBURG, Ontario - Some NHL players will be in the pink this weekend on the ice.

In a tribute to hockey moms and to raise awareness of breast cancer, hockey players such as Tie Domi, Mats Sundin, Steve Yzerman, Sidney Crosby and Ed Belfour will use pink sticks during games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the Chatham Daily News reported Wednesday.

Equipment manufacturer TPS Hockey is spending an estimated $50,000 for the initiative, which sprouted in the Gretzky family home in Brantford, Ont., shortly after the death of Wayne Gretzky's mother, Phyllis.

Story continues below ↓
advertisement | your ad here

"It's a tribute to hockey moms," said Brad Janson, TPS' director of pro hockey.

Janson said the deaths of Phyllis Gretzky to lung cancer, and TPS' new owner Paul Walker's sister to breast cancer motivated the charitable effort.

He said most of the players know someone who has been affected by breast cancer. It will definitely be unique to see "a tough and rough player using a pink stick," Janson said.

Slide show
Image: Spanish bullfighter Jose Tomas is tossed by a bull during a bullfight at Monumental bullring in Barcelona
  The Week in Sports Pictures
Fireworks, crash landings, Wimbledon theatrics and more.

more photos

"Pink is not usually synonymous with hockey," said Gary Ireland, a supervisor at the southwestern Ontario plant where the 75 workers have been busy painting the sticks.

TPS is picking up the tab for the $300 cost of each stick and its painting.

Janson estimates more than 400 pink sticks will hit the ice this weekend.

Each player, and goalie, has his name inscribed on the stick, which will later be autographed and auctioned to raise money for breast cancer research.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sponsored links