Denis Leary | Leary Foundation | Leary Firefighters

Fifth Annual Celebrity Hat Trick
bostonbruins.com 10/3/2004

BOSTONThere were two groups that benefited from the Fifth Annual Celebrity Hat Trick at the FleetCenter on Sunday afternoon the fans and the Leary Firefighters Foundation.

The fans were treated to a fun-filled afternoon of former Bruins greats and other celebrities in a game billed as hockey's greatest skating for America's bravest. Former Bruins such as Ray Bourque, Terry O'Reilly, Cam Neely, Rick Middleton, Wayne Cashman and John MacKenzie were joined on the ice by former NHL greats Pat LaFontaine, Glenn Anderson and Lanny McDonald and Hollywood celebrities Michael J. Fox, Scott Wolf, Bobby Farrelly and Denis Leary. Bruins icon Bobby Orr was one of the celebrity coaches, joined behind the two benches by Derek Sanderson, George Wendt, Lenny Clarke, Gina Gershon and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler.

The MasterCard All-Stars defeated the EMC2 All-Stars, 17-16, in front of a FleetCenter crowd of 10,055.

The annual event is the brainchild of Leary, a Worcester, Mass. native whose Leary Firefighters Foundation was started in the Spring of 2000 in response to a tragic December 1999 fire in his hometown which claimed six firefighters, including his cousin, Jeremiah Lucey, and close friend, Tommy Spencer. He created the Foundation to provide funding and resources for fire departments to obtain the highest level of equipment, technology and training.

The Celebrity Hat Trick events have raised over $1 million and have enabled the Foundation to provide resources to the Worcester, Boston and New York City Fire Departments, including a new burn tower and training facility which serves sixty fire departments throughout Central Massachusetts; a new Tactical Command Unit enabling the Boston Fire Department to monitor and control audio and video communications at any incident in the city; and a state-of-the-art Mobile Command Center for the New York City Fire Department.

Funds from this year's event are earmarked toward the acquisition of a new high-speed rescue boat to aid in the Boston Fire Department's protection of Boston Harbor as well as the continued funding for the training facility in Worcester.

Former Bruin Ken Hodge has played in each of the Celebrity Hat Trick events and is proud of how the event has grown. "The first couple of years we used the [Bruins] Alumni shirts and it was basically the alumni against the Hollywood Stars and now it's grown and evolved into having two separate teams and bringing in other former NHL players. It's been a lot of fun."

Bruins legend Orr is another participant who has been happy to lend his support to the event. "Firefighters need our support and this equipment," he said. "The training center I think something like 65 fire houses are training in it now. Last year, we bought a Mobile Command Center and this year we're buying a boat for the Harbor. Everything we do is to make things safer and better for our fire departments in their dangerous work."

While the hockey stars are quick to credit Leary for his tireless efforts on behalf of the firefighters, he is quick to turn the compliments back on them.

"A lot [of the success of these events] has to do with the hockey players," he said. "They give back to where they come from, they'll sign autographs til the cows come home, they're really the best guys going. And Bobby Orr you say Bobby Orr's going to be someplace and guys show up."

Bruins great Neely is another participant who has embraced the event since its inception. He believes the success of the event comes down to one thing.

"It's the cause," he says. "People can really understand and embrace what we're trying to raise money for. [They know] the game's not going to have too much contact and most of us have dropped a few gears in speed, but it's entertaining and it's a lot of fun. But the bottom line is the cause."