Bolts Versus Badges raises over $4,500 for cancer centre

By Lethbridge Herald on February 13, 2023.

Herald photo by Justin Seward - Badges captain RCMP Cst. Kyle Ruiters and Lightning captain Cole Matson have a little fun with the ceremonial face-off from Lethbridge police chief Shahin Mehdizadeh and Coaldale/Picture Butte RCMP Staff Sgt. Mike Neuman during the Badges Vs Bolts Charity Hockey Challenge on Saturday night at Nicholas Sheran Arena.

Justin Seward – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – sports@lethbridgeherald.com

The puck dropped on the second annual Bolts Versus Badges Charity Hockey Challenge at Nicholas Sheran Arena on Saturday night.

The charity game was played between the Lethbridge Lightning Senior AA hockey team and the Badges team consisting of local area RCMP and Lethbridge Police Service officers, firefighters and paramedics.

The amount raised for the Jack Ady Cancer Centre was $4,595 between a live auction, player auction, penalty shots and 20 per cent of the ticket sales, with the remaining portion going to the team and arena rental costs.

“I’m very grateful to the community, to our volunteers, to the players (and) sponsors,” said

Rob Zintel, Lightning director of hockey operations.

“(And) just what a great day it is to be able to do something like that and come up with a total like that and nearly quadrupling what we’ve done last year. So we’re looking for even bigger and better next year.”

This year’s amount nearly quadrupled last year’s amount of  $1,242.

“Tonight, or any other night, it’s always great to be coming out to participate in great initiatives where you’re actually raising money for great causes and we are quite happy to be here tonight,” said Lethbridge police chief Shahin Mehdizadeh.

The LPS police chief was an honorary coach at the event and he anticipated his fellow police officers to be playing hard.

“And we are going to be watching the other team (to) make sure they don’t cheat,” chuckled Mehdizadeh.

For Lightning assistant captain, Carson Beers, this was his second Hockey Challenge.

“If it’s anything like last year, it was exciting and fun,” said Beers.

“Some guys got traded in the middle of the game, which made it a little bit interesting and some guys got a little more competitive after that too. So hopefully we can do that, but we’re also here for a good cause and mostly that’s the most important thing.”

The Bolts edged the Badges team 7-6 in a shootout.