Progressive Wednesday

A “hat trick” for the battle against cancer

April 8th, 2007 by Eric

For our non-hockey progressives out there, a “hat trick” is when a single player scores three goals in a single game. It’s a pretty rare thing, only happening two or three times a year for each team. To celebrate, the fans traditionally throw their hats onto ice where they are scooped up into a big barrel and taken off. But today the Philadelphia Flyers scored a different kind of hat trick, one for children with cancer.

According to the team’s official web site:

During the second intermission of the game, fans (were) encouraged to toss their hats onto the ice “hat trick style” to show support for children battling cancer in oncology units of local Delaware Valley hospitals. The hats will be collected and given to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to be distributed to local children’s oncology programs.

To make it easier for fans to help out, the team store in the Wachovia Center offered buy-one-get-one-free deals on all caps before the game. The hats will be given to children losing their hair due to radiation treatment helping to improve the quality of life for young cancer patients.

The Flyers were the worst team in the National Hockey League this year. But “hats off” to their efforts off the ice.