Canadian hockey's impact on Movember fundraising

By Cory Wright

There are a few things Canadians do at a world-class level. The obvious first is hockey, the second tapping syrup. But growing moustaches and raising money are creeping up the list. Canada is leading the Movember leaderboard, having raised more than $15.5 million as of Nov. 15, ahead of the United Kingdom by $4.5 million and the United States by $7 million. A total of 230,000 Canucks have registered with Movember, second only to the UK’s 340,400. Helping drive this massive fundraising effort is Canada’s hockey community.

Hockey has a rich history full of moustaches, from Lanny McDonald to George Parros, and the community is stepping up to help end prostate cancer. Here’s a breakdown of some of the top contributors:

Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment - $46,700 raised

MLSE ranks fourth of the country’s 20,600 teams and is tops among Canadian hockey. Captained by Leafs legend Wendel Clark, the team boasts a roster of 236. Jim Steele is the top fundraiser, gathering more than $1,800, but the team has five players with more than $1,000 to their name.

The Mofficials - $25,600

The Western League’s officials are trying to give prostate cancer 10 and a game misconduct. Ranked 13th in the country, the zebras have a roster of 138. Colby Smith is the team captain and has raised $500, while Bryan Bourdon is the team leader with more than $1,600 invested in his moustache.

CHL Network - $69,200

The CHL Network is comprised of 47 teams and 720 members. The Mofficials are the league’s top team and the Medicine Hat Tigers are second having raised $7,300. The individual league leaders are the Tigers’ Hunter Shinkaruk ($2,666) and Miles Koules ($2,346). Shinkaruk and Koules are both doing a wonderful job of raising money for the cause and are working in tandem, donating to each other’s Mo pages. The CHL network is the 11th-ranked network in Canada.

Brown’s Beauties - $2,700

Leafs tough guy Mike Brown has enlisted the help of some other moustache-savvy NHLers to aid the cause. Al Montoya and Tom Kostopoulos are a part of this team and are growing some beauties for the cause.