Philadelphia Flyers Scott Hartnell Among Stars Helping With Hurricane Relief

Scott Hartnell is pretty revved up about Saturday’s “Operation Hat Trick” in Atlantic City, N.J., that will benefit relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Sandy.

 
“Brad Richards will captain the one team and I’ll captain the other,” Hartnell said of the game at Boardwalk Hall. “This is pretty cool. Brad’s been doing stuff out there on Staten Island. Maybe we’ll have some Rangers-Flyers battles out there.”
 
Game time is 7 p.m. Tickets go on sale now and are priced from $20 to $100.
 
“We are all overwhelmed by the damage and destruction caused to our area by Hurricane Sandy, and as professional hockey players we wanted to come together to help those who were victimized by the storm,” Richards said. “While we know the road to recovery is long, we hope a hockey game featuring some of the top players in our sport will help rally additional support for the three great organizations that are committed to helping rebuild our area.”
 
Tickets can be purchased at the Boardwalk Hall box office, Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster locations, or by calling 800-736-1420. Additional information can be found at the Atlantic City Heroes Facebook page.
 
“Hockey is a small world,” Hartnell said. “We thought of this. Atlantic City got hammered. There were some people putting out feelers and we jumped at the opportunity. We’re a great group of guys. It’s like our own All-Star Game. This is going to benefit those affected by Hurricane Sandy and it’s going to be a great night in Atlantic City.”
 
Hartnell and Richards will be joined by South Jersey’s Bobby Ryan, Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, Dan Carcillo, James van Riemsdyk, Justin Williams, Simon Gagne, Ville Leino, Steve Eminger, Jeff Halpern, Brian Boyle, Jody Shelley and James Neal.
 
“This all kind of came out of the blue,” Hartnell said. “Talking with people who were affected by the hurricane and you see images on TV. A few of us got together and said, 'Maybe we can do a hockey game with all the benefits going to those areas in New York and the Jersey shore.' The American Red Cross did such an incredible job trying to put back these towns hit so hard. We want to help.”
 
There will also be online auctions of NHL-used equipment.
 
“It’s going to be a big night and a lot of fun,” Hartnell said. “All the money goes to the Jersey shore and the Empire State, too.”

Proceeds benefit the Empire Relief Fund, N.J. Hurricane Relief Fund and American Red Cross.