In the first ever sold-out game at Mattamy Athletic Centre (site of former Maple Leaf Gardens), over 3,000 fans gathered to watch 39 players take to the ice for the RBC Play Hockey Charity Challenge. Together, the NHLPA Goals and Dreams Fund and RBC Play Hockey raised $100,000 in support of grassroots hockey initiatives across Canada.

RBC Play Hockey Ambassadors Steven Stamkos and P.K. Subban lead their teams in an exciting game that allowed players and fans to celebrate their love of hockey in a historic setting. – NHLPA

By Steve Farnham, Associate Editor, All Habs Hockey Magazine

LONGUEUIL, QC. — Here’s one great story that came out of the lockout, a charity event organized between the NHLPA and the Royal Bank of Canada involving 39 NHL players and a sold out Mattamy Athletic Centre, where over $100,000 were raised in support of grassroots hockey initiatives in Canada.

Both teams lead by P.K. Subban and Steven Stamkos, played a low-beat 60-minute garage-league style game, but all fun aside, the money raised goes to a great cause.

“The RBC Play Hockey Charity Challenge is a great opportunity to share the joy and excitement of hockey with our fans. I’m looking forward to playing alongside this impressive lineup of fellow NHL players while helping to raise funds to benefit local hockey programs across the country” – Steven Stamkos

Some notable highlights from the video:

• 0:48: P.K. Subban talks about his favorite moment at Maple Leaf Gardens, Doug Gilmore’s triple-spin.
• 1:00: Steven Stamkos jokes with Subban that they spelled his name wrong on his jersey.
• 1:24: Subban jokes about Phil Kessel joining in the autograph signing session.
• 1:38: We are delighted with the sight of Dion Phaneuf doing his infamous gopher stare.
• 2:05: A very ugly goal is scored.
• 2:49: Mike Komisarek appears very confused.
• 3:22: Some friendly trash-talk between Subban and Stamkos’ fathers.
• 3:44: Can be heard, “Come on Phil!”, “Come on Phil!”,  “Hey… turnover Phil…”, and it ends with Carlo Colaiacovo telling Phil Kessel, “Do something out there!” while shoving him in the back. Priceless.
• The video ends with Kessel being made fun of AGAIN, by Subban.
• Throughout: Awful music.

The final score was 14 for team Stamkos, while team Subban picked up 10.

I have to say that there’s two things I really loved about this video (a top from the fact that this was a great charity event):

1. Mic’d players.
2. Goalie cams.

With regards to mic’d players, it’s nothing new, we’ve seen it before but mostly at event games like winters classics and all-star games, but why not introduce this into games on a regular basis? There’s so much fan-interest in hearing what these players have to say to each other during a game that I just can’t see how this would not be a win-win for the NHL.

With regards to goalie cams, they’ve come a long way and haven’t reached perfection, the view is often a little shaky, but ultimately it brings a whole new angle to the viewers and with today’s technology, I think they should seriously start thinking about equipping all goalies with these during games. Once again, this is about bringing the fans closer to the game, or at least, making them feel like they are.

Come on NHL, get your game on.

Here were the team rosters for the RBC Play Hockey Charity Challenge:

Follow @stevofarnham on Twitter.

Video posted on YouTube by NHLPA.