Tyler Brough knows Zdeno Chara won't likely be making a visit this summer to his old Prince George stomping grounds.
But there's a standing invitation for the Big Z to join the impressive list of hockey talent assembling for the third annual Cougars Alumni Hospital Charity golf tournament, July 18-19, to raise money for the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation.
Former Cougars defencemen Dan Hamhuis of the Vancouver Canucks (1998-2002) and Eric Brewer of the Tampa Bay Lightning (1995-1998), now part of the new Cougars ownership group, plan to be part of the two-day event.
Brough, president of the Cougars Alumni, says having Hamhuis and Brewer now involved as owners will help attract players with NHL ties to the tournament. And if the six-foot-nine Chara ever does make it back for the event, Brough promises he'll find a set of clubs long enough to fit him. He knows the Boston Bruins captain, who helped the Cougars reach the WHL Western Conference final in 1996, would attract a big crowd in a long-drive competition.
"We work on him every year but the problem with him is he goes back to Slovakia every year," said Brough, an eight-handicapper who played at centre for the Cougars from 1996-99. "I know he wants to get back to town, he's really close to his billets and they stay in contact and one day we'll get him back here."
Also on the list of confirmed alumni players are Blair Betts (1996-2000), Brett Connolly (2008-2011), Dana Tyrell (2004-2008), Chris Mason (1994-1997), Ronald Petrovicky (1994-1997), Nick Drazenovic (2002-2007), Quinn Hancock (1995-1998) and Eric Hunter (2002-2007). Former Cougars captain Tyler Bouck (1995-2000), who just retired after five seasons playing pro in Germany, is on the maybe list. He and his wife, who live in Kelowna, are expecting a baby July 20.
The former Cats will be mixing with other members of the community for a sold-out round of golf, Saturday, July 18 at Prince George Golf and Curling Club, trying to get their names engraved on the Michael Fogolin Memorial Trophy as tournament champions. All the Cougars alumni players will be available to the public for a meet-and-greet session at the golf club in the afternoon on Friday, July 18. A live player auction in which people can bid to have players included as part of their golf foursomes will be held later that evening.
The third annual event has 70 local sponsors on board and the popularity of the tournament continues to increase. Last year's tournament raised $43,130 toward purchase of a $1.4 million diagnostic SPECT CT camera, which will be used at University Hospital of Northern B.C. to detect cancer, vascular diseases, orthopedic injuries and dementia. In two years, the event has raised $68,286 for Spirit of the North.
"This is a wonderful event, the community has so embraced Spirit of the North and the Cougars alumni - this is our third annual golf tournament and it's taken it to new heights," said Judy Neiser, CEO of the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation. "At Spirit of the North, we can only do what our donors instruct us to do and our donors have really backed us. It's the money that comes from the community that enables us to do this and the partnership is absolutely amazing."
Tournament chairman Gary Samis says the idea of the alumni tournament came from former general manager Dallas Thompson, who wanted to a pick a charitable cause that had universal appeal. Samis says the popularity of bringing back the city's junior hockey stars in a tournament has resulted in more people wanting to get involved and share the load of organizing it.
"We were sold out two months ago and we have a wait list of eight or 10 foursomes who want to come in," said Samis. "The Spirit of the North touches anybody in the community and the end result has been great. The SPECT CT [camera] is a piece of equipment that we haven't got in the North, people have to go to Vancouver for that and we'll be able to add that to our hospital."
The tournament has been moved to July after being held in August the previous two years to better accommodate players preparing for training camps for their pro teams in North America and Europe.
"The tournament is becoming one of the significant summertime events in Prince George and it continues to get bigger and better each year," said Cougars president Greg Pocock.
"Both Dan Hamhuis and Eric Brewer stated that increasing the Cougars' support for the alumni was a determining factor in their decision to part of the new Cougars ownership."
