WolfEagle1499's blog: "NHLFA_Sabres"

created on 04/17/2007 | http://fubar.com/nhlfa-sabres/b74563

posted on 04/17/2007&nbs-07:00;@&nbs-07:00;02:04&nbs-07:00;pm

In benefit for Parete, a subplot on the ice
http://fubar.com/in-benefit-for-parete-a-subplot-on-the-ice/b74563-314294

http://www.buffalonews.com/102/story/41499.html Sabre alumni, police renew heated rivalry Everyone’s promoting it as a benefit for wounded Buffalo Police Officer Patty Parete, but there’s an interesting subplot to Thursday night’s hockey game between the Buffalo Sabres Alumni and the Buffalo Police Department in HSBC Arena. A few years ago, in a 3-on-3 Corporate Challenge game between the Sabres organization and the Buffalo Police Department, the game got a little physical, with Sabres coach Lindy Ruff and Lt. Paul R. Delano both using their sticks for more than stickhandling and shooting. “Paul started it, and Lindy responded in kind,” Detective William C. Donovan said. “That’s the way it is in hockey.” “Lindy joked afterwards that he was afraid of driving around Buffalo, that he would get a ticket,” Sabres public relations director Michael M. Gilbert said. “The Buffalo police guys certainly haven’t forgotten that.” But the competition will all be in fun Thursday night, when the two teams come together for a larger cause, to raise funds for Police Officer Patricia A. Parete, who suffered a severe wound to the spine when she was shot in the neck by a suspect Dec. 5. This could be called Patty Parete Week in Buffalo, with two major events. Saturday night, the major fundraiser will be held for Parete in the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. Tickets are $25 for the event, which goes from 7 p.m. to midnight. The contributions, the notes, the outpouring of best wishes keep on coming for Parete, who was wounded along with Officer Carl E. Andolina. Chief Donna M. Berry gulped back tears Tuesday as she shared a note attached to a donation, one of hundreds, that have poured into the Central District over the last three months for Parete. “Dear Sir,” Berry read. “Here is a money order from my grandson Eric. He wishes to send a money order of $20.” Berry, who is Parete’s and Andolina’s boss and is on the fundraising committee, said she had a stack of unopened mail from other generous strangers eager to do what they can for the wounded cop. Berry said she finds herself nothing short of awestruck by the public’s outpouring of support. Among the recent developments: • Over the weekend, New Era Cap Co. ran out of $15 custom- made hats, designed in consultation with Parete, that were on sale in Walden Galleria. • Hundreds of $50 raffle tickets already have been snatched up for a chance at a 2007 Harley-Davidson XL 883L Sportster motorcycle, donated and autographed by “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno. • Thursday night, just as the police and Sabres alumni hockey game gets under way, a multidenominational service will be held at 7 p.m. in Temple Sinai on Alberta Drive in Amherst. • For Saturday’s gala benefit, dozens of volunteers and businesses already are chipping in to help. They are hoping that between 7 p.m. and midnight, more than 20,000 people will attend the festivities. Tickets are available at Tops and Wegmans supermarkets and at the door. Local supermarkets, top-ofthe- line restaurants and other Western New York companies are participating in the event — donating their food and work to the party. Several local bars are sending their bartenders to pour drinks. And a chocolate company, Choco-Logo, has created “Patty’s Nutcorn” and “Patty’s Candy Bars,” which will be on sale Saturday night. “This is truly an amazing display of community,” Andolina said in a statement. “We hear it a lot and we say it a lot, but Buffalo really is the City of Good Neighbors. I know Patty is absolutely overwhelmed by the outpouring of concern and support for her well-being. We’re looking forward to a tremendous event on Saturday, and I urge the residents of Western New York to come out and have a great time honoring Patty.” Meanwhile, Thursday’s game will start at 7 p.m., with an autograph session featuring Sabres alumni and injured Sabres players Paul Gaustad and Maxim Afinogenov starting at 6. Tickets are $10, and every dollar of ticket sales will help pay for Parete’s rehabilitation and medical costs. Tickets are available at Buffalo Police Headquarters, the HSBC Arena box office and the Amherst Pepsi Center. Since last week, the Sabres have been promoting the game heavily on their telecasts. “We’ve had a great response,” Gilbert said. “We’ve already sold about 4,000 tickets. We expect to sell more in the next couple days, and we expect a big walk-up crowd.” Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano and managing partner Lawrence Quinn offered to waive the normal $12,000 rental fee for the arena. “It’s another example of the community’s been great to the Sabres, and we can give something back to the community,” Gilbert said. Unfortunately, for those who would like to see Ruff and Delano back on the ice together, the lieutenant who has pushed so hard for a BPD-Sabres alumni game won’t be playing Thursday. He’s currently an Air Force captain serving in Iraq. That led to some good-natured razzing from Donovan: “Lindy only decided he would play after he heard Paul was in Iraq.” Let the game begin. Click here to join NHLFA_Sabres