The last thing on the minds of MSU hockey alumni and professional players that took part in the "Hockey for Hope" all-star charity contest on Saturday at Munn Ice Arena was the final score of the game and the NHL lockout.
"Everybody's been disappointed for so long about the NHL," said Kevin Miller, a former MSU star (1984-88) and event organizer. "Everybody misses it, everybody wants to play - that's why you see these guys out here playing.
"It's sad, the longer it lasts, the worse it gets. It's disappointing to have the season lost and the playoffs lost, but it's been seven months now, so they're moving on."
More on the players minds was the $40,000 they helped raise for the Ron Mason Fund for Kids at Lansing's Sparrow Hospital and the Ingham Regional Medical Center charities.
"It was nice to have everybody together," Miller said.
"The goal was to bring the guys together and have some fun. The biggest goal is to raise money for charity. We raised a lot of money for them - it's a great purpose."
"Hockey for Hope" was divided up into two teams, the Sparrow Hospital's green team and the Ingham Regional Center's red and white team.
The Sparrow team consisted mostly of MSU hockey alumni, including Ash Goldie, Shawn Horcoff, Mike Lalonde, Matt Migliaccio, Kevin and Kelly Miller, Jim Slater, Bryan Smolinski and Jason Woolley. The Ingham team featured NHL standouts such as Chris Chelios, Derian Hatcher and Pat Verbeek.
"It's always hard to get these guys, especially this time of the year," Woolley said. "You don't think anyone's doing anything, but everyone's busy as heck. I give these guys a lot of credit, obviously, it's for a good cause."
Hatcher said it was an easy decision for him to play in the event.
"That's pretty much a no-brainer, as far as when people call you to play," he said. "Most of the guys feel that way. It's not like they're going out of their way or anything like that."
Aside from raising money from charities, it gave Lansing residents Mark Moeller and his son Steven a chance to see NHL players on the same ice.
"We like hockey," Moeller said. "It's a big part of our evenings, turning on the TV to see the Red Wings play, and we didn't get to do that at all this year."
The game featured plenty of action with Chelios and Hatcher playing offense, rather than defense, with Verbeek for Ingham. Former Michigan player Bill Muckalt even posted a hat trick for Ingham.
And for those that were keeping score, the Ingham Medical Center red and white team beat the Sparrow Hospital green team 9-7.
