2008 Boston Bruins Charity Auction

 

The 9th Annual Boston Bruins Charity Auction was held at Mantra Restaurant on Sunday, February 17, 2008 to benefit the Travis Roy Foundation.

The Boston Bruins Charity Auction is an upscale event, held annually, which allows Bruins fans to mix and mingle with the entire Boston Bruins roster, coaching staff, management, and alumni.

"On behalf of the players, I would like to thank everyone for attending tonight and helping with this great cause," said Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien to the many people gathered on the floor of Mantra. "We would like to say thank you for your support -- not only off the ice, but on the ice, as well.

"It has certainly been great for our players this year.

"And we look forward to making a big push from here on in," he said.

Guests enjoyed cocktails and hors d'oeuvres and stood shoulder to shoulder with some of their favorite Bruins players and some of their favorite NESN personalities.

"I'm having a great time," said Sports Desk's Hazel Mae. "And I am just surprised that the entire team, being in the midst of a playoff race, took the time to come to this wonderful event.

"I am blown away. It's awesome."

The event boasted over 200 silent auction items that featured one-of-a-kind sports memorabilia, gift certificates to top of the line restaurants, and unique fan experience packages -- just to name a few of the exciting prizes.

The highlight of the evening was the greatly anticipated live auction. The live auction consisted of creative packages such as team road trips or dinner with Zdeno Chara. The live auction also allowed for guests to bid on truly unique items such as a chance for your child to take their favorite Bruin to school for the day.

This year’s auction will benefit the Travis Roy Foundation, which was established in 1997 to help spinal cord injury survivors and to fund research into a cure.

Travis Roy, who created the Foundation, was a promising 20-year-old hockey star at Boston University. Moments into his first collegiate game as a BU freshman, an accident drove Roy into the boards and left him paralyzed from the neck down.

Inspired by Travis' own story, the lifeblood of the Travis Roy Foundation has been the generosity of individuals, corporations and foundations across North America. This generosity has made an immediate impact on the lives of many individuals.

"This is great," said Bruins forward Chuck Kobasew. "These kind of events, where you can help...the Boston Bruins Foundation, or hospital visits or anything like that, are always fun."

"It's always nice to be in a position to help people," agreed Chara. "As a player -- as a person -- it is always an awesome feeling to be able help out at these events and to see the support from the team.

"And it's for a wonderful cause."

In the end, over 250 people attended and over $150,000 was raised for the Boston Bruins Foundation and the Travis Roy Foundation.