World's Largest Hockey Fundraiser on the Power Play in Year Seven

TORONTO, Sept. 23, 2017 /CNW/ - Today at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Scotiabank Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer faced off for its seventh hugely successful event. This year, players and their donors raised $2.6 million, making the seven year total over $16M.

The tournament provides critical funding for cancer research at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, one of the top five cancer research centres in the world. As one of the top ten single day athletic fundraisers in Canada, funds raised for The Princess Margaret contribute to areas such as immunotherapy, cancer stem cell, and genomics research, amongst many others.

This year's event featured 150 teams of eight to 12 players each playing five games through the course of the day. This includes Road Hockey's first ever all female division. Participants were entertained all day long with musical acts, celebrity appearances, interactive activities, kid's games, food and beverages and interactive games.

Top fundraising teams had the opportunity to draft a celebrity onto their team to either play or coach. Among the 50 personalities available to be selected included broadcaster Peter Mansbridge, Stanley Cup Champions Mark Napier and Tomas Kaberle, and Hockey Hall of Fame members Glenn Anderson, Adam Oates, Paul Henderson and Darryl Sittler.

Paul Alofs, President & CEO of The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, expressed his excitement about the event: "The overwhelming success of our 7th annual Scotiabank® Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer is a direct result of this passionate and selfless community of road hockey players, sponsors, donors and volunteers who support our mission to Conquer Cancer in our Lifetime."

"At Scotiabank, investing in our communities has been a focus for over 185 years," said John Doig, Chief Marketing Officer at Scotiabank. "We are proud to return as the title sponsor of Scotiabank Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer, in support of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, for the second year. Hockey matters to Scotiabank because it matters to Canadians and we know that this tournament will raise important funds to fight cancer. We invite everyone out to the Scotiabank Kids Zone, where young people will be able to practice their hockey skills and meet some of their favourite hockey heroes and mascots."

This year Scotiabank® Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer welcomed Pizza Pizza as the new presenting sponsor. "On behalf of the thousands of people who work at Pizza Pizza, and in our network of restaurant locations, we are delighted to support The Princess Margaret to help with their efforts to conquer cancer, one shot at a time," said Pat Finelli, Chief Marketing Officer of Pizza Pizza.

The top individual fundraiser this year, who also happens to be the Division Head of Gynecologic Oncology at The Princess Margaret, was Dr. Marcus Bernardini who raised $55,607. The top fundraising team was Ovarian Blitzers who raised $110,123 while the Corporate Challenge Cup was won by Hatch Engineering who raised $226,366.

Hatch – once again – has won the Corporate Challenge Cup marking the 6th year in a row they achieved that feat. Hatch has now raised over $1.2M for Scotiabank Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer, since 2012.

For more information or to donate to the event, visit teamuptoconquercancer.ca.

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About Scotiabank
At Scotiabank, we aim to support organizations that are committed to helping young people reach their full potential. Young people are our future leaders and Scotiabank's goal is to help ensure that they have the necessary skills and resources they need to support their success. Together with our employees, the Bank supports causes at a grassroots level. Recognized as a leader for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, in 2016, Scotiabank contributed more than $70 million to help our communities around the world.

Scotiabank is Canada's international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and Asia-Pacific. We are dedicated to helping our 24 million customers become better off through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of more than 88,000 employees and assets of over $906 billion (as at July 31, 2017), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.

About Princess Margaret Cancer Centre 
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre has achieved an international reputation as a global leader in the fight against cancer and delivering Personalized Cancer Medicine. The Princess Margaret, one of the top 5 cancer research centres in the world, is a member of the University Health Network, which also includes Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and The Michener Institute for Education at UHN. All are research hospitals affiliated with the University of Toronto. www.theprincessmargaret.ca

About The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation
The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation at University Health Network is raising funds to lead the way in Personalized Cancer Medicine at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, which includes The Campbell Family Cancer Research Institute and The Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research. www.thepmcf.ca

SOURCE Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation