Matt Hendricks Earns More Good Guy Points
Team picture from the Defending The Blue Lin event in Minnesota October 28th, 2012.
Photo courtesy of @rbmattson
Since he joined the Capitals in 2010, Matt Hendricks has become synonymous with supporting causes from the support of the You Can Play movement to charity military games in the name of hockey. If you remember, before the 2010 season Hendricks had to claw his way onto the Caps roster based on a walk-on tryout after leaving the Colorado Avalanche. It was seen as a new chapter in Hendricks life and he wanted to move on from the Avalanche organization after not being resigned after a stellar 2009-10 season performance. He earned praise during the Capitals camp which earned him an entry level contract with the Capitals worth a measly $575,000 for the 2010-11 season via Cap Geek. In his inaugural Caps season he stepped up to the plate to become an enforcer earning 110 PIMS via HockeyDB, with DJ King being iced most games. Signing a two year contract for the 2011-13 seasons at $1.65 mil, Hendricks still stepped up to the plate above guys who are earning more money and holding court on the ice with 95 PIMS. What I am getting at here is that Hendy plays for the game of hockey and not the money.
Due to the lockout, Hendricks returned back to his home state of Minnesota which meant his generosity traveled with him. Last night, he was able to play some hockey in the name of charity in an NHL player-studded game at the University of Minnesota put together by newly signed Wild player Zach Parise. The event was played in front of 3000 in attendance with the goal of raising money for military kids through the Defending The Blue Line organization.
Zach Parise and Matt Hendricks drop the puck to start the Defending The Blue Line event.
Photo courtesy of @sarajsfish
Via the Star Tribune in Minnesota, Defending The Blue Line founder Shane Hudella stated "the event will have raised almost $50,000, was 'humbled by these pro athletes supporting this cause to help military kids.'" Hendricks received the honor to drop the puck alongside of Zach Parise to start the event off. The teams were Air Force (Hendricks and Co.) vs Army (Parise and Co.). The game saw a comeback with Army rallying from a 3-1 deficit in the beginning to forcing a shootout in the end. Army ends up closing out the rally with a 9-7 (not your typical scoring structure but just go with it). Niklas Backstom (Minnesota Wild goalie not our favorite Swede) ended up making an event appearance after playing in a charity game in Chicago in where he scored a goal in a shootout. To see who was playing alongside Hendricks, see a pic of the roster list via @RenaKARE11
To learn more about Defending The Blue Line and how you can help, head over to their website here to check it out.
Matt Hendricks defending the blue line (in our offensive zone, but still this is a damn good hit). Enjoy!
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