Team Furness vs. Team Slickhawk at Hockey Challenge 2017
Hockey Challenge takes place Saturday, February 18, at ShoWare Center in Kent
KENT, February 15, 2017 — The Seattle Thunderbirds and Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Western Washington & Alaska (RMHC) are pleased to announce the participants in the Celebrity and T-Birds Alumni All-Star Game at the 2017 Hockey Challenge on Saturday, February 18, at ShoWare Center in Kent.
The T-Birds play the Portland Winterhawks at 6:05 pm on Saturday, February 18, in a game that will be broadcast locally on Joe TV. This game will be followed by the local Celebrity and T-Birds Alumni All-Star Game.
The All-Star game will feature Team Furness vs. Team Slickhawk. Team Furness will be coached by sports host Ian Furness from Sportsradio KJR 950 AM. Team Slickhawk will be coached by Matt “Slickhawk” Mikolas from “Mitch in the Morning” and 12th Man Mania on Sportsradio 950 KJR. Alex Akita from Seattle Sportsnet and the Karate Emergency Podcast will be an assistant coach for Team Furness. Spike O’Neil the Afternoon Host on KZOK 102.5 FM will be an assistant coach on Team Slickhawk.
Steve Migs from the BJ & Migs Show on 99.9 FM KISW is a longtime supporter of the Challenge and will return this year to play goalie for one of the Celebrity All-Star teams.
John Langeler from KING 5 TV will be slotted on either Team Furness or Team Slickhawk.
Local chef Jason Wilson will be playing goal in the Celebrity All-Star Game. Wilson owns the Miller’s Guild restaurant in Seattle and is a longtime hockey player.
Seven former T-Birds, including Tyler Willis, Brendan Witt, Jamie Huscroft, Brett Duncan, Blake Knox, Danny Lorenz and Jim McTaggart will be divided up among Team Furness and Team Slickhawk. Former Tacoma Rocket Jamie Butt and former professional hockey player and current Sno-King Hockey Director Doug Kirton will also play in the All-Star game. There is the possibility more former T-Birds are added to the roster in the coming days.
The Top Donors to the Hockey Challenge and other local celebrities will be divided up evenly among Team Furness and Team Slickhawk.
There will be four Challenge games before the T-Birds vs. Winterhawks game. These teams will be formed by different divisions within Microsoft and local recreational league players.
The Hockey Challenge began in 1998, when hockey-playing Microsoft employees, with the help of the Thunderbirds, took an in-house rivalry public and decided to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Western Washington & Alaska (RMHC). Since inception, the Challenge has raised more than $4.9 million for RMHC, which provides a “home-away-from-home” for children and their families during medical treatment, making each day a little easier.
A ticket to Hockey Challenge 2017 gives fans access to all Challenge events on Saturday, February 18, including the local Celebrity and T-Birds Alumni Celebrity Game, all other Challenge games and the T-Birds game that night against the Winterhawks. The Celebrity Game is scheduled to start after the T-Birds game ends.
Hockey Challenge 2017 Schedule
Saturday, February 18
Game 1 – Katie’s Krushers vs. Manny’s Mayhem, 10:35am
Game 2 – DevDiv vs. Xbox Live, 12:15pm
Game 3 – NHLtoSeattle Team Amazon vs. NHLtoSeattle Team Microsoft, 1:55pm
Game 4 – Office 365 vs. Windows, 3:35pm
Game 5 – Seattle Thunderbirds vs. Portland Winterhawks, 6:05 p.m.
Game 6 – Celebrity and T-Birds Alumni All-Star Game, immediately following T-Birds/Winterhawks game.
To purchase single game tickets to the Hockey Challenge fans should go to the ShoWare Center box office or go online to the T-Birds website.
T-Birds group tickets for the Challenge are also currently on sale. Group tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.
