The Seattle Thunderbirds and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Washington & Alaska (RMHC) present Hockey Challenge 2020 on Saturday, Feb. 15, at the accesso ShoWare Center.<\/p>\n
The T-Birds play the Vancouver Giants in a WHL game at 6:05 p.m. followed by the local Celebrity and T-Birds Alumni All-Star Game featuring Team Olczyk vs. Team Patterson.<\/p>\n
Ricky Olczyk, the assistant general manager of the NHL Seattle franchise, will coach against Ed Patterson, a former Thunderbird and NHL player and father of T-Bird Max Patterson.<\/p>\n
Five Challenge games will be staged before the T-Birds-Giants game. The Challenge will feature a team from the NHL Seattle office – the “Seattle 32’s” – consisting of employees of the NHL’s 32nd franchise, which has yet to be named and is expected to begin play in 2021.<\/p>\n
The 32’s will play Breakaway Crew in the first game of the Challenge. The Crew is comprised of players who took part in the fifth annual RMHC Breakaway Challenges on Aug. 17 at Sno-King Arena Kirkland and Jan. 11 at the Kent Valley Ice Centre.<\/p>\n
The Breakaway Challenges pitted youth and adult skaters against players who have never played goalie. Each breakaway on a new goalie required a donation to RMHC. If a skater scored on a new goalie, that skater received a free breakaway against an experienced goalie. If the experienced goalie gave up a goal, the goalie donated to RMHC. There was no limit to the number of breakaways a skater could take against a new goalie.<\/p>\n
At this year’s Breakaway Challenges, a skills competition was added for youth and adult skaters to raise funds. More than $16,000 was raised for RMCH through the two Breakaway Challenges this season, bringing the five-year total to more than $50,000 raised. The skaters and goalies who raised the most money for RMHC at the two Breakaway Challenges this season will have a final competition during the first intermission of the T-Birds game.<\/p>\n