Georges Laraque played through sore joints last year rather than sit out a Heroes Cup game, and the retired NHL forward is back in the event’s orbit as the tournament returns to Ice Vault in Wayne, New Jersey. Laraque, who had skated for two clubs during the previous charity tournament, said the people represented on the ice make any discomfort easy to put aside.
“Police, firefighters, Secret Service personnel and other first responders put themselves in danger for all of us,” Laraque said. “They are the real heroes. Being a little sore was nothing, so I played.”
The annual tournament opens Friday with a draft party at Club Vibe in Riverdale, New Jersey, before games begin Saturday. NHL employees, League staff and alumni will join teams representing law enforcement, fire departments, military veterans and other first-responder groups in support of the Tunnels to Towers Foundation.
After the horn
The Heroes Cup has expanded quickly, growing from four teams in 2023 to a 16-team field that now carries a waiting list. The event has generated roughly $500,000 for Tunnels to Towers and its programs for Gold Star families, families of fallen first responders, catastrophically injured veterans and first responders, scholarships, veteran homelessness efforts and 9/11 education.
This year’s tournament arrives as the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks is being marked, adding weight to an event built around service and sacrifice.
“Going from four teams to 16 shows what this tournament has become,” NHL senior executive vice president Kim Davis said. “The funds raised help Gold Star families, fallen responders, injured veterans and many others. This edition has added meaning with the 9/11 anniversary.”
Team NHL will enter the round-robin field for the first time. Its roster includes former defenseman Andrew Ference, now the NHL’s director of social impact and player programs. Ference played 907 NHL games from 1999-2016 and won the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011.
Matt Herr, the NHL’s senior director of community development and industry growth, will also play for Team NHL. The former center appeared in 58 NHL games with the Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers and Bruins between 1998 and 2003.
“Most people know someone, or have a relative, whose life was touched by 9/11,” Herr said. “Tunnels to Towers has continued to grow while putting its support in the right places.”
Team NHL will face a field that includes the New York City Police Department, FDNY, New York’s Boldest corrections officers, New Jersey State Police, New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association, New York State Courts, Nassau County Police Department, Port Authority Police Department, Philadelphia Police Department, FBI, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Coast Guard and the Washington Capitals Warriors veterans team.
Alumni Laraque, Al Secord and Darren McCarty are scheduled to be assigned to tournament teams at Friday’s Heroes Cup Draft Party, presented by the NHL.
Laraque played 695 NHL games with the Edmonton Oilers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens from 1997-2010. The cause also lands close to home for him: his brother has served as a Halifax, Nova Scotia, police officer for 25 years.
“It matters a great deal because of my brother’s work,” Laraque said. “What Tunnels to Towers does is special, and the NHL getting involved makes the event even stronger.”
Heroes Cup co-founder and CEO Josh Lentin said the League’s backing helped bring the tournament before all 32 NHL clubs and their charity and community-relations departments. Organizers also presented the NHL with a five-year plan for the event.
“The NHL has been outstanding for us,” Lentin said. “They helped us get the Heroes Cup and Tunnels to Towers in front of every club, and we were able to lay out where we want the tournament to go over the next five years.”
Saturday’s opening games at Ice Vault begin at 12 p.m. ET, with NHL meeting NYPD, Boston Fire playing New Jersey Fire, and FBI taking on FDNY.
