St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn and former Blues and current New Jersey Devils goalie Jake Allen are part of a selective group of NHL players in a league-wide initiative with NHLPA Goals & Dreams that has donated more than $700,000 in hockey equipment during the 2024-25 season, enabling over 1,000 children to learn and play the game.
"Giving back and inspiring the next generation is a priority for our players,” Marty Walsh, NHLPA Executive Director, said in a press release. “We are proud of the impact NHLPA Goals & Dreams is having on youth globally, by supporting grassroots hockey."
Other players include Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, Pierre-Luc Dubois of the Washington Capitals, Ross Johnston of the Anaheim Ducks, Zack MacEwen of the Ottawa Senators, Mitch Marner of the Vegas Golden Knights, Brandon Montour of the Seattle Kraken, Ondrej Palat of the Devils, Devon Toews of the Colorado Avalanche and Tomas Tatar, who played for the Devils last season, and TJ Brodie, who last played for the Chicago Blackhawks last season.
One third of the equipment donations involved an NHL player giving back to their own community.
NHLPA Goals & Dreams Equipment Grants
NHLPA Goals & Dreams focuses on providing equipment donations to grassroots hockey programs so that more children can enjoy full access to the game and can build hockey and life skills.
• More than 1,000 sets of equipment were donated to 50 grassroots hockey programs; the full list of recipient programs can be found at the end of the release.
• Donations spanned 10 countries across the world: Canada, United States of America, Czech Republic, Germany, New Zealand, Philippines, Ukraine, Denmark, Finland and Slovakia.
• Youth boys and girls hockey players, ranging from three to 21 years of age, have benefited from the donations.
• Recipient hockey programs included military families, visually impaired, and sled hockey, among others.
• A total of 125 sets of equipment were donated to six Indigenous communities in Canada.
• More than 50% of the organizations that applied for a donation grant are supporting youth who come from low income or disadvantaged households.
• The ‘OREO Stay Playful For All’ program was launched in January, which saw new hockey equipment grants from NHLPA Goals & Dreams delivered to an additional 14 recipient programs across Canada.
NHLPA Goals & Dreams Charitable Donations and Initiatives
Also in 2024-25, NHLPA Goals & Dreams supported charitable initiatives in 2024-25 through auction items for over 140 different charity events, and financial contributions, including:
• Smilezone Foundation: A contribution of $135,000 was made to transform spaces at Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, with the goal of making appointments and health services a more positive experience for youth.
• Gaudreau Family 5K: A donation of $25,000 was made to support the efforts of building an adaptive playground at Archbishop Damiano School, which will memorialize Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau.
• Kids Help Phone: G&D served as the matching donor for KHP on Giving Tuesday.
• Alzheimer Society of Canada: G&D served as the matching donor during Canada’s Alzheimer’s Awareness Month.
2024-25 Goals & Dreams Grassroots Hockey Program Equipment Grants
· Ahuntsic Braves Association (Montreal, QC Canada)
· Ascension of Our Lord Secondary School (Mississauga, ON Canada)
· Brendon Oreto Foundation (Fredericton, NB Canada)
· Canadian Blind Hockey (Toronto, ON Canada)
· Charlottetown Minor Hockey (Charlottetown, PEI Canada)
· Detroit Police Athletic League (Detroit, MI United States)
· Dresden Minor Hockey Association (Dresden, ON Canada)
· Durham Family Advisory Board (Whitby, ON Canada)
· Durham Regional Police Service (Whitby, ON Canada)
· Elliot Lake Minor Hockey Association (Elliot Lake, ON Canada)
· Flower City Special Hockey, Inc. (West Henrietta, NY United States)
· Fondation Pierre-Luc Dubois (Montreal, QC Canada)
· Fort Providence Minor Hockey (Fort Providence, NWT Canada)
· Glacier Girls (Vernon Hills, IL United States)
· Grand Rapids Griffins Youth Foundation (Grand Rapids, MI United States)
· Grindstone Award Foundation (Penticton, BC Canada)
· Hockey is Diversity (Berlin, DE Germany)
· Hockey PEI (Charlottetown, PEI Canada)
· Hockey Philippines Bagumbayan (Quezon City Philippines)
· Hokejový Club Frýdek (Frýdek-Místek Czech Republic)
· Huron Hockey and Skating Association (Tawas City, MI United States)
· Kölner Eishockey-Club “Die Haie” e.V. (KEC) (Cologne, DE Germany)
· La Ronge RCMP (La Ronge, SK Canada)
· Lopatyn Orphanage (Lopatyn, Lviv Ukraine)
· Maritime NHL’ers for Kids (Dartmouth, NS Canada)
· Mid-South Ice House (Olive Branch, MS United States)
· Municipality of Chesterfield Inlet (Inlet, NU Canada)
· My Biggest Fan Foundation (Stratford, PEI Canada)
· New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation (Mt Roskill, Auckland New Zealand)
· North Star Minor Hockey Association (Oyster Bed Bridge, PEI Canada)
· Northern Nishnawbe Education Council (Thunder Bay, ON Canada)
· Northern Ontario Families of Children with Cancer (Sudbury, ON Canada)
· Parents’ Council of Primary School of Pavol Demitra (Dubnica nad Vahom, Slovakia Slovakia)
· Park City Ice Arena (Park City, UT United States)
· Parkway Youth Hockey Inc. (West Roxbury, MA United States)
· Peel Regional Police Service (Mississauga, ON Canada)
· Pioneer Park Panthers Hockey Program (Kitchener, ON Canada)
· Piyesiw Awasis Sports and Recreation (Turtleford, SK Canada)
· Plattsburgh Youth Hockey (Plattsburgh, NY United States)
· Program34 (Prince William, NB Canada)
· Qikiqtani School Operations (Pond Inlet, NU Canada)
· Rødovre Skøjte & Ishockey Klub (Rødovre, Hovedstaden Denmark)
· Salish Storm Hockey (Nanaimo, BC Canada)
· Saskatoon Kinsmen Hockey League (Saskatoon, SK Canada)
· Spray Lake Sawmills Recreation Park Society (Cochrane, AB Canada)
· Stoney Education Authority (Mini Thni, AB Canada)
· Tappara ry – Tappara Junior Hockey Organization (Tampere, FI Finland)
· Tilbury Area Public School (Tilbury, ON Canada)
· United Heroes League (Hastings, MN United States)
· York Regional Police (Aurora, ON Canada)