Rampage Go Pink

HBIC is all about helping out charitable causes, and having followed the AHL very closely over the last few years has allowed me to see just how much good the AHL franchises do in their respective communities. One such team that did a pile of good this past week was the San Antonio Rampage as they went Pink in the Rink to help cancer survivors. And, more importantly, they raised a pile of money to help in the battle against cancer.

Friday, February 3 saw over 100 survivors of breast cancer invited down to the AT&T Center in San Antonio to skate on freshly-zambonied pink ice! Players Wacey Rabbit, Mike Caruso, Bracken Kearns, Eric Selleck, and Scott Timmins greeted the families in their pink jerseys as everyone donned their skates for a fun skate on the big ice! That's a pretty cool morning, and congratulations to the 100 families who got to skate. More importantly, HBIC salutes the 100 survivors who defeated breast cancer who attended the skate Friday morning! Here's the video of the players and families taking part!

Last season's Pink in the Rink event saw 14,339 fans head down to AT&T Center as the Rampage downed the Chicago Wolves by a 4-1 score. There was hope that the Rampage could eclipse that mark this year, and set a new single-game record for fans on the same night! Friday's game was sponsored by the Cancer Therapy & Research Center, and the proceeds from the pink jersey auction were going to the San Antonio affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure!

The people of San Antonio responded in a big way as they set a single-game franchise record for fans as 16,151 fans showed up to watch the Rampage battle the Lake Erie Monsters! While the final score wasn't like last year's edition as the Rampage fell to the Monsters by a 3-1 score, the work done to raise money for charity certainly came through in a big way as the Rampage raised $48,000! The highlights of the game are below, and note the pink jerseys and pink ice in San Antonio.

Look, there's a very clear line between having the NHL do something like this, and having an AHL team participate fully in an event like this. I'll admit that the amount of pink used overshadows the game itself, but we're talking about a community coming out to support a very good cause and show support for survivors of breast cancer. Those survivors are mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, and grandmothers of a number of people. More importantly, they may be related to a hockey player, a hockey player themselves, or a relative of someone you know. I will never fault a hockey franchise going all-out to help the community they live in because it's that connection that keeps people coming back to the rink.

Well done, Rampage, on your most successful Second Annual Pink in the Rink as the sellout crowd brought in a record $48,000! That's a great chunk of money that will help people battling cancer in the San Antonio area, so good on you! Here's hoping that next year's event breaks the $50,000 mark!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!