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Mo' fun for all in hockey benefit

Port Hardy Warriors and Port Hardy Bulls men’s hockey teams square off in the second annual Movember hockey benefit.
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Members of the Port Hardy Minor Hockey atom team wait with the Warriors' Quinn Mellow

PORT HARDY—Players on both the Port Hardy Warriors and Port Hardy Bulls men’s hockey teams showed off some impressive facial hair when they squared off in the second annual Movember hockey benefit for prostate cancer research Friday at Don Cruickshank Memorial Arena.

But they had nothing on the audience.

Children as young as five and six years, along with the ladies from Scotiabank, sported mustaches on an evening that raised approximately $2,500 for the men’s health cause — an amount that was matched by Scotiabank to bring the total to $5,000.

Roughly $350 of that total was raised by the Port Hardy Minor Hockey atom team, whose members dressed in uniform and assisted with cleanup following the puck toss.

The brainchild of the Warriors’ Brian Texmo, Friday’s benefit game included a raffle table, puck toss at the first intermission and a puck shoot at the second intermission.

The puck shoot, with a pair of Vancouver Canucks hockey tickets on the line, was a particular hit, and went to a shootout after Jason Hunt and North Island Eagles peewee player Liem Wadhams tied with 14 successful shots from centre ice in a 60-second period. Hunt claimed the tickets with nine successful shots in the 30-second shootout.

On the ice between whistles, the Bulls and Warriors, both members of the North Island Commercial Hockey League, played a rare, three-period contest that proved one period too long for the Bulls.

The game remained tight through two periods, with the Bulls holding a narrow, 2-1 edge behind goalie Colin Hunko and goals from Andrew Smith and Brad Zealand.

But the Warriors erupted for five unanswered goals in the third period to claim a 6-2 win, their second straight Movember victory.

Shelby Cockell scored the first and last Warriors’ goals and added two assists, but otherwise scoring was spread out. Eddie Walkus, Jordan Nicholson, Texmo and Mitchell Walker also found the net in the win, making a winner of netminder Jason Saunders.

Assists went to Brett Demoe, Quinn Mellow, Arlo Kueber, Walkus, Walker and Corey Swain for the Warriors, and for the Bulls’ Smith, Jordan Campbell and Ryan Handley.