By now, most of you likely know what Movember is. For those of you who might not know about it, or what it’s goal is, let me give you a quick rundown:
The Movember Foundation is a movement that works tirelessly year-round (that’s right, not just one month) to have an everlasting impact on men’s health. They have four key focuses in the foundation:
- Prostate Cancer (second-most common cancer in the US for men)
- Testicular Cancer (most common cancer in men aged 15-34)
- Poor Mental Health (one in four adults in the US will experience mental health issues in a given year)
- Physical Inactivity (Only 53.8% of men in the US meet the federal guidelines for physical activity)/
Established back in 2003, the Movember movement is now one of the largest foundations to support the cause. It now has over five-million reported “Mo Bros” and “Mo Sistas” that have joined the battle against cancer, and mental health awareness.
Not only has the general public joined the cause, but multiple sports organizations have as well. The NHL has been one of the biggest impacts. With 27 teams involved with Hockey Fights Cancer, the NHL, it’s fans, teams, and players raised over $200,000 in 2014. So far in 2015, they have raised $29,076. You can find the Hockey Fights Cancer Movember page here: Hockey Fights Cancer. Here you will find all of the teams involved pages, and can see how much they have raised individually. I have listed below some of the NHL teams, and players who have actively taken part in Movember. Keep in mind, there are tons more, and this obviously isn’t all 27 teams, but this is what the great folks at the Movember Foundation have provided to me:
Anaheim Ducks: Andrew Cogliano, Cam Fowler, Ryan Getzlaf, Patrick Maroon, Corey Perry, Tim Jackman, Chris Stewart, Clayton Stoner, Jakob Silfverberg, Frederik Andersen, Sami Vatanen, Hampus Lindholm, Nate Thompson, Ryan Kesler, Rickard Rakell, Anton Khudobin, Simon Despres, Chris Wagner, Joe Piskula, John Manson, Kenton Helgesen, Kevin Bieksa, Korbinian Holzer, Mike Santorelli, Shawn Horcoff
Arizona Coyotes: John Scott, Shane Doan, Kyle Chipchura, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Michael Stone, Mike Smith, Antoine Vermette, Joe Vitale, Zbynek Michalek, Steve Downie, Max Domi, Stefan Elliot, Nicklas Grossman, Martin Hanzal, Jordan Martinook, Connor Murphy, Tobias Rieder, Anthony Duclair
Boston Bruins: Matt Beleskey, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Brad Marchand, Chris Kelly, Dennis Seidenberg, Loui Eriksson, Jonas Gustavsson, Zdeno Chara, Kevan Miller, Adam McQuaid, Joe Morrow, Brett Connolly, Jimmy Hayes, Colin Miller, David Pastrnak, Tyler Randell, Tuukka Rask, Ryan Spooner
Buffalo Sabres: Zach Bogosian, Matt Moulson, Marcus Foligno, Brian Duff, Jack Eichel
Carolina Hurricanes: Riley Nash, Justin Faulk, Noah Hanifin, Michal Jordan, John Michael-Liles, Brad Malone, Joakim Nordstrom, Kris Versteeg
Colorado Avalanche: Blake Comeau, John Mitchell, Cody McLeod, Nick Holden, Gabriel Landeskog, Brandon Gormley, Reto Berra
New York Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist
Nashville Predators: Mike Fisher, Ryan Ellis, Victor Bartley, Carter Hutton, Calle Jarnkrok, Seth Jones, Roman Josi, James Neal, Eric Nystrom, Mike Ribeiro, Pekka Rinne, Craig Smith, Shea Weber, Colin Wilson, Gabriel Bourque, Austin Watson, Barret Jackman, Filip Forsberg, Paul Gaustad
New York Islanders: Thomas Greiss, Josh Bailey, Casey Cizikas, Cal Clutterbuck, Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolay Kulemin, Matt Martin, Brock Nelson, John Tavares, Thomas Hickey, Brian Strait, Calvin de Haan, Jaroslav Halak, Travis Hamonic, Anders Lee, Nick Leddy, Johnny Boychuk, Ryan Strome, Ryan Pulock, Stephen Bernier, Frans Nielsen
Pittsburgh Penguins: Nick Bonino
San Jose Sharks: Matt Tennyson, Joel Ward, Brenden Dillon, Chris Tierney, Mike Brown, Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Tomas Hertl, Tommy Wingels, Justin Braun, Matt Nieto, Brent Burns, Barclay Goodrow, Martin Jones, Paul Martin, Joonas Donskoi
St. Louis Blues: Troy Brouwer, Tyler Twyford, Kelly Chase, Brad Shaw, Robert Bortuzzo, Stephen Natoli, Jimmy Clausen
Washington Capitals: Jason Chimera, Tom Wilson, Michael Latta, Mike Vogel, Matt Flynn, Alexander Ovechkin, John Carlson, Andre Burakovsky, Nate Schmidt, Karl Alzner, Dave Martin, Ray Straccia, Ben Reisz, TJ Oshie, Justin Williams, Phillipp Grubauer, Chandler Stephenson, Eric Brooks
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Time for a little personal talk. As a person who has seen men in my family battle cancer (some have won, some have lost), I can’t reiterate how important this is to me. This is my first year being involved with the Movember Foundation, and I have managed to raise just south of $700 so far.
Want to donate, or check out my page? You can find it here: KyleWIIM’s Movember Campaign
I was not expecting to receive this much support in this, so it’s really an emotional, and spiritual victory for me personally. Sharing in these victories is what this is all about.
With over 1000 funded projects, in 21 countries, the Movember Foundation is making a mark on men’s health. The NHL, and multiple other leagues is right by their side in the fight against cancer. My advice to everyone is to join the battle. Grow a mustache (even if you actually can’t grow one.) Let’s show cancer that it’s not going to win this war.
Update: We reached out to the Red Wings’ Luke Glendening and Riley Sheahan with some questions about their own Movember thoughts and this is what the two locker room mustache leaders had to say:
What drives you to participate in Movember? Have you had any friends, or family members affected by cancer or mental health issues?
Luke Glendening: To be honest, none of my family members or friends have been affected intensely by it. But I think anything you can do to raise awareness to those issues is huge. If I can do that by my support of Movember, that’s great.
Riley Sheahan: I think raising awareness for the general population of people who struggle with it and the families that struggle with it. I have had some people close to me recently dealing with it. If you can support the cause any way you can, I think it’s a good idea.
Last year, the NHL raised more than $200,000 for the Movember Foundation. What does it say about the league for players on all 30 teams to join forces in this cause?
Glendening: I think at the end of the day we’re all pulling on the same rope and we all want things for men to get better in terms of health and the awareness about cancer. It’s cool to see everyone involved.
Sheahan: It just shows the character of a lot of the players in the league. You see tons of guys around the league who are sporting the mustache, even though it may not look the best. It’s fun and if you can support the cause and support those who have dealt with cancer, it’s pretty cool.
How often do you get teased by teammates for your mustache?
Glendening: Mine is pretty bad, so pretty often. But I’ll keep it going.
Sheahan: You get teased quite a bit. But it’s one month of the year. You can deal with it. You get to see how you look with the mustache. It may not look the best, but it’s fun and it’s something you can joke about with the guys.
