The Coquitlam Express will be in the pink later this month.
And while general manager Tali Campbell would like that to mean the BC Hockey League team doesn’t lose a game once the regular season begins on Friday (Oct. 8), the new pink jerseys players will be wearing beginning Oct. 22 represent more than just wins and losses.
The special uniforms are to raise awareness about breast cancer and to honour those who’ve battled or are battling the disease that will be diagnosed in about 26,300 Canadian women this year.
One survivor of the disease is Coquitlam accountant Sharon Perry, who’s sponsoring the pink jerseys that will be auctioned off from Oct. 20 to 30 to raise money toward the establishment of a breast cancer clinic at Eagle Ridge Hospital in Port Moody.
“When you are faced with life changing situations, you just have no choice but to put one foot in front of the other and keep going,” Perry said in a press release of her own recent journey with breast cancer. “I know without a doubt that the Tri-Cities needs a breast cancer clinic and this is just one step toward that becoming a reality.”
Campbell praised Perry as an “inspiration,” and, he added, the fight against breast cancer goes far beyond the ice.
“Breast cancer is a disease that affects us all,” he said. “You ask anyone and they know someone close to them who has experienced this awful disease.”
The pink jersey campaign will culminate with a special Pink in the Rink night on Oct. 27, when the Express host the Powell River Kings at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex.
As well, Express veteran Ryan Tattle is launching his own fundraising campaign, Score for Cancer.
The forward from Port Moody will take pledges for every point he scores this season, with all proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society.
On his fundraising website, scoreforcancer.ca, Tattle said he was moved to take action by his own mom's brush with cancer, as well as former teammate Greg Lapointe, who has had to put his hockey aspirations on hold as he battles Hodgkins Lymphoma.
Lapointe, who's from Granby, Que., was heading into his second season at St. Lawrence University after leading the Express in scoring in the 2019/'20 season.
