Los Angeles, CA—In the long, slow process of recovering from tragedy, small steps matter. But so do large ones, and on Sunday in Los Angeles, a huge leap was made in the effort to help Eaton Fire/Palisades Fire victims. Through cooperation between the LA Kings hockey club and that National Hockey League, a hockey game was held, but not just any game, a contest between a variety of NHL alums, stars of film and music, and first responders from the greater LA area.
The format was like a mini tournament, with four teams participating. Each would face one other, with the two winners facing each other for the championship. The games would be two periods of ten minutes., with the championship game one ten-minute period. In the case of a tie, the teams in question would have a three-round shootout. Sounds a bit like the setup for the Four Nations, doesn’t it? Nobody expected a repeat of the fighting that the Canada-USA game featured, but a large crowd was there to cheer, to support LA Strong, and to love the people who need it most right now.
The official name of the event: Skate for LA Strong.
One benefit of a benefit—the chance to take a day off from the worry and grief, and this was it. Stars assembled included Vince Vaughan, Danny DeVito, Snoop Dogg, and many others. Musical performances came from Lauren Spencer-Smith and Jordan Davis. For my money, the star of the day was Spencer-Smith, whose rendition of “What About Us?” was riveting.
Appearing on video sprinkled throughout the event were everyone from Wayne Gretzky to Payton Manning and Tom Brady.
Hockey celebrities included Dion Phaneuf, Mark Messier, Pete Demers, Marty McSorley, Jeremy Roenick, PK Subban, Al Michaels, and Ron McLean, amongst others. All were there for one reason: they care. Maybe two: because it was the right thing to do.
It’s hard to describe the devastation that these fires created. Whole swaths of homes and businesses just gone, rubble and the occasional chimney left where people’s memories had been. Touring the burned area, you feel like an apocalypse has come, and maybe that’s not so far off the truth. At times during the days following the initiation of the blazes on January 7th, it seemed almost like officials knew the whole city was going to burn down, but that they didn’t want to say it and panic the populace. LA has a long history of being subject to disaster. Read the work of Mike Davis, DJ Waldie, or Norman Klein for proof.
As for the whole city going up in flames, it turns out that that was just fear talking, but nobody who was in the mess or lived near enough to it to be will ever forget the post-Christmas days of 2025.
It all happened so fast. I took a walk in Altadena with a friend at around 2:45. It was windy, and tree limbs were down, but that’s what it was—a windstorm. By 6:30pm that same day, I got a call while covering the Ducks’ game. “I’m being evacuated. What do I do?”
As I drove home, going west on the 60 Freeway, I looked to my right. Off in the distance was a cone of fire. I had no idea its rage wasn’t confined to the mountains. By two days later, five friends and colleagues had lost everything except what they were able to squirrel out in the brief time available. One friend lost a beloved VW Vanagon that he had owned for years and treasured. Sure, I always devoted my time to telling him how much happier he would be with a Mustang, but that was in the good days when I figured he’d have the VeeDub forever. Now it was being towed to a dismantler after his insurance company did their paperwork.
The aforementioned friend who was evacuated saw the destruction come within 67 footsteps of her front door. Just across Altadena Drive, several condo buildings, four houses, and a Jewish cultural center are reduced to ashes and twisted metal. Same for the assisted living facility a little further east on the same block. That’s the one you probably saw on TV being evacuated by staff and helpers who did it out of bravery and their own goodness.
Does your donation matter? Big or small, yes, it does. Evacuees I’ve talked to were given $1000 WalMart gift cars. They used them to replace computers their kids needed to keep up in school. The Salvation Army gave one a $750 Visa gift card. Food, air purifiers, blankets, clothes—you name it and someone donated it, and the feeling of the recipients was that someone cared for them and their loss. A sense of human goodness filled their hearts, as they said. So there’s money at stake here, but also emotional wellness being fostered also.
What about the hockey? The quality improved as the games went on. Game one between Team Blue and Team White was one-sided, with Blue scoring almost at will and white coming back late to make it a respectable 6-3 loss. Game two between Team Red and Team Black, the latter captained by Justin Bieber, was more fluid, perhaps due to the presence of more, or what seemed like more, NHLers. Dany Heatley scored a nice goal and set up another. The goaltending was better, too. Team Red won handily, 5-0.
It was Team Red versus Team Blue in the final. The goaltending in this one was excellent by Billy Blase, who notched his second shutout of the day to allow his team to win, 4-0. After the game, coach of Team Red, Vince Vaughn, said of his strategy, “Let the players play.” He said it was important to his team to have won and not allowed a goal. “After the first [game] I said just don’t get content. There’s one more to go. I didn’t have to say anything. These guys were off the leash and ready.”
He also commented on the event itself, saying, “What the Kings did in such a short time was so tremendous. You know, there were a lot of people not getting sleep over the last few weeks as this thing came together. What a great day. Having the firemen on the team was so special.” He later added, “It was special to be a part of this and to see all the love and support come together.”
Approximately 12,100 fans were in attendance. They loudly cheered both the hockey and the honored guests, including the fire fighters and others who were involved in fire-related efforts.
