Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada President and CEO Andy Bischel said the donation is the culmination of Reaves’ vision to bring a hockey facility and rink to a place that may not have otherwise gotten one.
“It’s his vision and his continued commitment,” Bischel said. “That’s an athlete putting action behind words.”
Reaves, a forward who played 49 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, couldn’t make it to the event on Thursday, but other members of the coalition were there in full force to conduct an indoor ball hockey clinic.
Toward the end of the session, Boys & Girls Club members took turns facing an All-Star roster of current and former NHL players and women’s professional players. They included Whitecloud, coalition co-chair and “NHL on TNT” analyst Anson Carter, co-chair and ESPN analyst P.K. Subban, Seattle Kraken television analyst JT Brown, former forward Georges Laraque, former forward Anthony Stewart, former defenseman Mark Fraser, Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jordan Harris, PWHL New York defenseman Abby Roque and four-time U.S. Olympic women’s team forward Julie Chu.
“It’s important to the growth of the game. And more importantly, the growth of the game is people becoming comfortable with the game, being able to resonate with the game, feeling apart of it,” Subban said. “I’m already seeing kids who didn’t know how to hold a hockey stick shooting the ball.”
