dorena fencer: MoStangs promote men's health in match-up

Sunday, November 25, 2012

MoStangs promote men's health in match-up | The Gazette

Friday night Mustangs hockey games are always a great place for people to bring family and friends, but this week?s game against the Waterloo Warriors is also moustache friendly.

The Mustangs men?s hockey team has paired up with Movember Canada to promote their annual Movember hockey game. The game will feature prizes, attractions and information regarding the cause, and a whole lot of crumb catchers.

?The game will have tons of prizes and tons of promotions with lots of on-ice promotions and all kinds of other activities. Also, opportunities to get information about the cause,? Jason Young, manager of marketing, sponsorship and sales for the Mustangs, said. ?In past years, there has been great support for Movember on campus, and there have been a lot of groups that have been working to support Movember.?

The culture surrounding the hockey team drew in promoters, but the collaboration of many groups is what promoters are hoping will make this game a success.

?Hockey has always been a staple part of Mustang Athletics and we felt that Movember would be the perfect adjoining charity to get involved in this project. Predominantly, in the past, we have had only lackluster efforts towards promoting this event at past hockey games due to the separation of campaigns across campus,? Matthew Shantz, head of promotions for Mustangs sports and Recreation Services, said. ?My ambition for this game was the get all the parties involved in Movember and hockey, both on and off campus, to come together.

As the last home game for the men?s hockey team in November, the moustaches should be in full bloom, but the crowd won?t be the only people sporting crumb catchers. Despite not having a formal Movember campaign, many of the team?s players take raising money into their own hands.

?A lot of the guys have moustaches growing right now. They are all going about raising money themselves through their Facebook pages, but we have no formal movement,? Pat Powers, Mustangs interim head coach, said. ?Some guys can grow some pretty good moustaches, and some guys can?t wait until the end of November. I?d say Josh Unice and Matt Clarke have the best ones.?

Though the focus before the game and during the intermissions will be on the lip sweaters, the game at hand will be the centre stage attraction. With the Mustangs sitting three points ahead of the Warriors?with 18 and 15 points respectively?this game will go a long way in deciding the fate of each team.

?There is a pretty good rivalry between us and Waterloo, as there is with every OUA West team, and they work extremely hard and follow their systems extremely well. They also have a good bunch of goaltenders in Justin Leclerc and Keaton Hartigan,? Powers said. ?They are going to be a real tough match-up for us as they always are. They are going to keep grinding and grinding and grinding. They have a good mixture of skill throughout the lineup that can make you pay.?

With all the build-up for the game, the Mustangs are expecting a larger crowd than normal. By advertising the game through various mediums, the game?s promotional staff are hoping for a big return on their efforts.

?We are over 600 tickets right now and we are expecting around 1,000 people. We will probably see double our average fan count for a Saturday night game,? Young said.

With men?s health in the forefront, and two good teams strapped up for a vital showdown, this game has all the makings of an enjoyable afternoon.