Ping Pong: A Smashing Idea

Apr 3, 2012; Dallas, TX, USA; San Jose Sharks center Dominic Moore (18) skates through the Dallas Stars zone during the third period at the American Airlines Center. The Sharks defeated the Stars 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

Dominic Moore has a lot on his plate. He’s by his wife Katie’s side, who was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer. He’s recently recovering from a broken nose. He’s been patiently waiting to find out where his new home will be as he’s been a free agent since July 1st. He’s not sitting around being idle, he’s using energy from those things for the positive. He, in conjunction with the NHLPA, hosted Smashfest on Thursday night at the Steam Whistle Brewing Company. The first of what is hoped to be an annual ping pong charity tournament, which featured NHLers from different teams, was a success. They raised over $20,000 for brain injury research at both the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto and the Matthew Gfeller Center at the University of North Carolina. The goal is to educate about the perils of concussions. A silent auction also happened to raise money for the cause, featuring everything from game-used and autographed jerseys to ‘priceless life experiences’.

“I know this has been a big issue in the media over the past few years, but it’s been an even bigger one among the players,” said Mathieu Schneider, a former player and current NHLPA executive. “We’ve lost a lot of friends from the game to concussions.”

Ryan Shannon took home the tournament championship. Daniel Winnik (Sharks forward) was paired a fan, they took home the Doubles Championship.
Zenon Konopka eliminated Steven Stamkos, who apparently plays hockey much better than he plays ping pong.

The NHL stars who attended were:

STEVEN “THE ASSASSIN” STAMKOS

ERIC “BIG NASTY LINDROS

RYAN “SAVAGE” SHANNON

VINCENT “SPINGENT” LECAVALIER

DOMINIC “THE DOMINATOR” MOORE

LOGAN “THE NATURAL” COUTURE

ROB “THE HAMMER” ZAMUNER

NICK “KYPPER” KYPREOS

JOEL “PSYCH” WARD

DANIEL “DESTROYER” WINNIK

STEPHANE “VICIOUS” VEILLEUX

TEDDY “GRIZZLY BEAR” PURCELL

STEVE “DEMOLITION MAN” DOWNIE

ZENON “KILLER” KONOPKA

CODY “HAYWIRE HODGSON

WOJTEK “WICKED” WOLSKI

JOE “RAGING BULL” REEKIE

BRETT “FREIGHT TRAIN” CONNOLLY

MATTIEU “ROUGH RIDER” SCHNEIDER

JASON “SPIN-KID” SPEZZA

“When Mooresy asked me to be a part of this, it was a no-brainer, no pun intended,” Stamkos said. “It’s a very important issue in our game. We want to learn as much as we can about it and raise awareness starting in youth hockey and up to the pro ranks.”