Hockey game will benefit family of slain WB officer

For one night, Detroit Red Wings fans can see the Grind Line reunite and Chris Osgood return to guard the net while supporting the family of a slain West Bloomfield Township police officer.

The Detroit Red Wings Alumni Association will be hosting a charity hockey game on Friday, Dec. 21 at Compuware Arena in Plymouth, in association with the Joe Kocur Foundation for Children and Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command Class 335.

Tickets for the game are priced at $20, with all proceeds benefiting the family trust of West Bloomfield Police Sgt. Patrick O’Rourke.

O’Rourke was murdered on Sept. 8 during a police response at a township residence on Forest Edge Lane involving a barricaded gunman who eventually took his own life. He was 39-years-old and is survived by his wife, Amy, and four children.

The charity game will begin at 7:30 p.m. after the opening ceremonies at 7:15 p.m., and will feature Red Wings alumni taking to the ice against local law enforcement officers.

Among the alumni scheduled to play are Osgood, who was the winning goaltender for the Red Wings Stanley Cup championship teams in 1998 and 2008.

Also scheduled to appear are Darren McCarty, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby and Joe Kocur, who together were affectionately known as “The Grind Line” and were a key component in the Red Wings winning Stanley Cup championships in 1997, 1998, 2002, and 2008.

Hockey Hall of Famer Igor Larionov, who won three Stanley Cups with the Red Wings and is nicknamed “The Professor,” is also scheduled to appear, as is fellow Hall of Famer and former Red Wing Dino Ciccarelli.

Tickets can be purchased in the lakes area at the West Bloomfield, White Lake and Milford police departments, as well as online at www.eventbrite.com.

“Right now this is the only hockey in town (because of the National Hockey League lockout), so we are hoping for a sell out,” Milford Police Chief Tom Lindberg said.