CALGARY, Alberta – The Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) announced that the 2014 – 2015 CJHL Prospects Game, which will be hosted at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, Ont., on January 20, 2015, will be used to help raise funds for Neil Doef and his family.
Neil Doef, who plays for the Smith Falls Bears of the CCHL, was injured while playing for Team Canada East during the opening game of the 2014 World Junior Hockey Challenge. The all-star forward and gifted soccer player, who also excelled academically as an honours student at Smiths Falls District Collegiate Institute, had already accepted a scholarship to attend the Ivy League's Princeton University.
The CJHL will donate proceeds from the game to the Doef family. In addition, the game will feature “Buckets of Love for Neil”, a grassroots fundraising campaign started in Smiths Falls that consists of passing a bucket through the crowd seeking donations. All donations collected go directly to assisting the Doef family.
“The hockey community is a tight family and Neil is a brother, a son, a friend to many across the CJHL,” said Kirk Lamb, President of the CJHL. “This game presented an opportunity to not only recognize our top prospects, but also assist Neil and his extraordinary family during his recovery.”
The CJHL Prospects Game is one of the premier Junior A hockey events in the country and provides tremendous exposure for the top CJHL prospects to play in front of scouts from all over the hockey world – including the NHL, NCAA, CHL and Canadian universities and colleges. The game features the top 40 NHL prospects as chosen by NHL Central Scouting.