Hockey Players Union

One of the best things about playing ice hockey is that there's truly a sense of brotherhood (and sisterhood!) among its players. In adult league hockey there's a proud tradition of new players getting almost an entire complete set of hand me down gear from teammates. If you don't play hockey yet try it out, you probably only need a pair of skates.

On Twitter a few weeks ago I saw someone advertising a new charity they're getting up and running called "Hockey Players Union". What they're trying to do is raise money to let underprivileged kids play a sport that's near and dear to our hearts. I'm going to let Jason Stroud from the HPU take it from here:

Hockey Players Union

Hockey Swag for a Great Cause!

The Hockey Players Union (HPU) is based out of Toronto and has a goal to raise funds for underprivileged children wanting to play hockey. Established in May, HPU has been around for 6 months and received phenomenal support from thousands of hockey players and parents around the world. We raise our funding by selling our Hockey Lace Wristy on our website, where we donate all the proceeds towards our cause. For those who aren't aware, a Wristy is a hockey lace bracelet developed by HPU for the purpose of raising funds for underprivileged children wanting to play hockey across North America. This beauty comes in a variety of colours and sizes. Additional designs will be made available in November. Our funds get distributed among hockey associations with families in need and we sponsor many organizations that support the power of sport. We focus on the registration fees that can be extremely overwhelming, as used hockey equipment can be acquired through association programs. One in three children can't afford to play hockey in North America. We want to change that because the game's positive influence is undeniable.

You can find our Hockey Lace Wristy on hundreds of professional hockey players all over the globe. When you wear your HPU Wristy with pride, you join an elite group of athletes that are proud to be hockey players supporting a great cause. Although we're in our infancy, the growth has been tremendous and we hope to continue our goal of raising more funding with every passing month. You can check our website out for additional details or if you'd like to purchase one of our products.

The wristys are pretty cool, if you've been wearing those silicone "Livestrong" style bracelets they're probably something you'd be interested in as a hockey fan. I put two of them together to fit around Wendel Bark's enormous head as so:

The snaps on the end of the bracelets are metal with a maple leaf logo:

If you're interested in helping out a good cause go check out the Hockey Players Union and follow them on twitter: @HPUCanada.