SACO — With the heat of mid-summer comes the yearning for the slap of pucks, the thump of bodies, and especially, the cool of the rink.
This Sunday, hockey fans will get a chance to satisfy all of those urges while lending support to a local charity, when Face Off for a Cause is staged at MHG Ice Centre at 1 p.m.
The event, which will feature a strong lineup of professional and collegiate hockey players, is being sponsored by the Michael T. Goulet Foundation to raise funds and heighten awareness about traumatic brain injuries and epilepsy disorders.
The effort is inspired by the late Michael T. Goulet, a Saco native who died last October at age 21, seven years after suffering a severe brain injury in a snowmobiling accident.
Goulet was a psychology student at St. Joseph’s College and focused on finding a cure for epilepsy at the time of his passing.
“In an effort to channel our grief,” said Brad Goulet, who was Michael’s father, “We elected to start a foundation for families who have been affected by brain injuries or epilepsy disorders.”
The hockey tie-in was a natural as Michael Goulet played the game as a squirt in the Biddeford Youth Hockey Association.
As well, Goulet’s sister Candace is married to John Laliberte, who rose from a member of Thornton Academy’s hockey team to a four year stint at Boston University, then on to a pro hockey career.
Laliberte will soon head back to Germany for his third season with the Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams.
It was Laliberte who used his contacts to pull together such a strong cast of players.
“If it weren’t for John’s connection to hockey,” said Goulet, “our fundraiser would probably not be a hockey game. We wouldn’t have had the connections, or even thought to do it.”
The teams, “coached” by Maine-based comedians George Hamm and Bob Marley, contain enough hockey talent between them to stage a full-fledged All-Star contest.
Or at least a respectable Maine alumni affair.
Leading the list is former Black Bear and current Detroit Red Wing goaltender Jimmy Howard.
Others with NHL credentials slated to take part include ex-Bruins’ great Rick Middleton, Jay Leach, Len Hachborn, Gary McAdam, Bob Corkum, Jeff Libby, and Peter Douris.
Former Portland Pirates who will take part include Dennis McCauley, Derek Whitmore, Brad Church, Kent Hulst, and Saco native Matt Libby.
Also expected to play are former Biddeford standout Brian Dumoulin (now an All-American defenseman at Boston College), Kennebunk grad Brian Billett (who will be Dumoulin’s teammate at BC), and C.J. Maksut, who led Thornton Academy to the 2011 Maine Class A championship.
Performances by Hamm and Marley will follow the game, and there will also be a silent memorabilia auction held.
“We would like to continue this as an annual event,” said Goulet.
Ticket prices are $25 (for adults) and $15 (for children 12 and under) and can be purchased in Saco at Bob and Mike’s Mini Mart and at Beechway Market.
For more information, log on to www.michaelgouletfoundation.org or call 282-4707.
— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com or follow on Twitter @DanHickling.
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