Former Maple Leafs Captain, Wendel Clark, shaved his famed moustache in support of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment’s (MLSE) Movember campaign Saturday during the Toronto Maple Leafs’ last home game before November. This marks the first time since 1994 that Clark will not be sporting his trademark moustache, which was older than the Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC, the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, Google, iTunes and nearly 20 percent of the Canadian population. Watch the VideoDuring November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in Canada and around the world with the goal of raising vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer.
“It wasn’t an easy decision to part with my moustache after nearly 18 years but if there was one cause I would do it for, this is it,” said Clark. “Hopefully it will inspire men across Leafs Nation to take the time to visit their doctor and get checked out.”
Last week, Movember co-founder, Adam Garone joined Clark and representatives from all four of MLSE’s teams to help kick off MLSE’s Movember campaign. Current Leafs participating this year are Rob Brown, Cody Franson, Jonas Gustavsson and Colton Orr. The month-long campaign will see numerous MLSE players, coaches, staff and personalities serve as walking, talking billboards as they raise awareness by prompting conversation around the often ignored issue of men’s health.
MLSE’s Movember team, “MOple Leaf Sports”, has four Ambassadors – Maple Leafs alumni Wendel Clark, Toronto Raptors Head Coach Dwane Casey, Toronto FC Alumni and Academy Junior Team Head Coach Jim Brennan and Toronto Marlies goalie Ben Scrivens. Each has their own team on the MOple Leaf Sports network page on the Movember website which fans are encouraged to support or join.
“We feel that this is a great cause that our staff and players feel strongly about and it speaks to our core audience,” said Tom Anselmi, executive vice-president and chief operating officer, MLSE. “There are tens of thousands of men over 40 watching our teams on a regular basis, and by using all of our teams and media platforms we really hope we can bring this important message to the widest possible audience.”
In addition to the awareness and fundraising work of the MOple Leaf Sports Movember team, the Maple Leafs will host a Movember Awareness Night on November 15 when they play host to the Phoenix Coyotes. Movember messaging will also be featured prominently across all of MLSE’s broadcast platforms leading up to and during the month of November.
Adam Garone, Movember’s co-founder and CEO, commented at last week’s MLSE Movember campaign launch that, “Having MLSE come on board like this and put men’s health at the forefront of the sports lovers’ agenda is epic. It is an honour to have such a Canadian institution helping to change the face of men’s health.”
To join the MOple Leaf Sports & Entertainment team or to see how your favourite MLSE personalities are progressing, visit http://ca.movember.com/mospace/network/MLSE. The individual ambassadors’ pages are Wendel Clark, Team Captain at mospace/1345384/, Dwane Casey, Head Coach at mospace/1404650/, Jimmy Brennan, Assistant Captain at mospace/1405736/ and Ben Scrivens, Assistant Captain at mospace/1446380/.
To register for Movember, please visit www.Movember.com. Fans can also follow MOple Leaf Sports at www.mlse.com.
