A rowdy bunch of CFCW Critters descended on St. Paul’s Clancy Richard Arena to take on St. Paul’s Fire Department last Thursday evening, with the crowd of 700 plus entertained by the resulting goofiness, including pies in the face, firefighters clearing the ice to deal with a fire emergency, flying V goals, and more.
“For me to be on the ice, to see all the people in the stands out there supporting us, I was humbled by it, I really truly was,” said St. Paul Fire Chief Trevor Kotowich.
The fire department had set a target of raising $10,000 at the event, to go towards purchasing an ATV firefighting unit, with Kotowich saying he thought they would be fortunate to raise half that amount. Instead, when all was said and done, the night ended up breaking the $10,000 mark, which sent him all the way up to cloud nine.
“The night was amazing . . . it was beyond all expectations. To sum it up, it just goes to show, the community of St. Paul really is a people kind of place,” he said, noting this was true of not just the town of St. Paul, but the wider community, with spectators coming in from all over the area.
The game started off with the Critters jumping off to an early lead, 3 – 0 but Kiel Andersen scored to put the fire department on the board in the first period.
That was when the antics began in earnest, with the Critters stopping to pose for a picture with Andersen, rewarding him with a whipped cream pie to his face. Over the next couple of hours, the Critters and fire department continued to goof off, with the Critters lining up in a flying V, a la Mighty Ducks, and pushing over their opponents until they go to the goal to score; with the Critters replacing the fire department’s net with a miniature one; and with the Critters mascot hopping on his opponent’s net periodically to either get up and shake his bon-bon to Taylor Swift or to pile on the goalie. All of St. Paul’s firefighters were put in the penalty box at one point along with the Critters mascot, who was pushed around and slammed up against the glass in retaliation.
But by the end of it, all the players left the ice without injury – “except maybe shortness of breath,” adds Kotowich.
During the break between the second and third period, a live auction was held, with Alvin Schuh winning the bid for a fire department jersey at $500, with an Oilers’ handcrafted table going for $200 to Brett Scrannage, and an autographed Brett Kissel guitar going to Paul Guitard for $1,850. A 50/50 draw raised $1,300, which was won by one of the firefighter’s mothers, while the raffle table also brought in between $600 to $700, said Kotowich.
“But the biggest winner last night was the St. Paul Food Bank,” said Kotowich, adding that people brought in cash donations as well as 240 kg. worth of food donations in for the food bank, which, at an estimated $5 per kg, equated to $1,200 in donations.
Kotowich noted there was a lot of support behind the scenes for the event, with Zarowny Motors donating the jerseys and each of the firefighters sponsored by different businesses.
He noted that several people had commented, phoned, emailed or texted him on the day after to say what a great community-minded event it was.
“It was a fire department event, yes, but without the help of minor hockey, the Jr. B. Canadiens, all the people that attended, it would not have been a success,” he said, thanking the community for its support.
