Kraig has Also Participated In Numerous Corporate and Charity Events around various parts of this Planet ... more often than not, When Playing Music He Is the one man Entertainment Machine !

He Also plays for Private Parties . Weddings . Bah Mitzvahs . Barn Bashes . Birthdays . just about anywhere You Want To Hear Some GREAT Music, from ALL Eras, This is The Man For You ! Of Course The 9 HOUSE BAND Is Always available for some Rockin' Enjoyment ....

Kraig Also Laces Them Up For all NHL Alumni hockey and ball hockey events and tourneys and then Usually Will Play some Fine Music At The After Game Parties ...

Kraig's Numerous Musical Venues are listed on the Home Page

www.barrymcguire.ca

Barry McGuire Lawyer Author Teacher

Well, the Scotia Bank Pro-Am hockey tournament is over. It was held in Edmonton April 9-11, 2011 in support of the Gordie and Colleen Howe Alzheimer's Foundation. I am humbled and hugely thankful to everyone who supported my tiny part in this huge fundraising effort.

The tournament was brilliantly run; you can tell they've done it before.  It was all about fundraising and not about who won the hockey games although I'm happy to report we won all three of ours.  Competitively, the organizers reminded us a few times that Toronto raised in the neighbourhood of $800,000 when they had their first tournament.  Our 18 teams involved raised just over $1 million. As always, the West steps up.

Think how great that must be for the non-profit Alzheimer's Society.  Fundraising is tough and they need a lot of money. A tournament and event like this comes along and raises $1 million!  How amazing for them. Good news for next year, 23 teams have already signed up and they will probably run 2 more tournaments in Calgary and perhaps Red Deer.  Next year in Edmonton my guess is, with the tournament now having a profile, we will double our efforts and reach $2 million.

Notes from the Tournament

• I played for the Quantum Speed team.  Quantum Speed is a power skating and training company owned and run by Steffany Hanlen and Vanessa Hettinger.  Vanessa and one of her instructors Britney Millar scored the first two goals in our game on Sunday.  Not too many girls playing in the tournament, and  I know the other teams always seemed to be surprised as these talented ladies flew by them on the way to the goal.  Britney and I played together on a line for the whole tournament.  She was fantastic; smart, very skilled and took no guff from anyone.  Oh... yeah... the guys on the team were great, too!
  

• There is always a little angst or trepidation when you go to meet your new team members sponsored by a power skating company.  I mean how good are these guys (and girls)?  Could a recreational hockey player like me keep up?  No worries.  I'm happy to report, didn't embarrass myself on the ice.  Felt really good about that.
  

• What about the Pro part in the Pro-Am? At the draft party on Friday night once the first 10 drafts were done, names were pulled out of a hat.  We were assigned Kraig Neinhuis (pronounced ‘ninehouse’).  I wasn't familiar with Kraig and there was at least mild disappointment when you don't get to pick a Paul Coffey or a Glenn Anderson. We all were taught yet another lesson in making snap judgments.  Kraig and his guitar were the entertainment at the draft party.  He and his band play in and around the Detroit Windsor area.  Good enough to have opened for Nickelback. Who knew? Of course, he played in the NHL, which makes him a million times better than anyone on the team.  But, the best part was that he was just a really good guy.  Funny in the dressing room with never ending stories, supportive on the bench and great on the ice.  He was there for the whole weekend, stuck with the team and I think, in the end, we got the best draft choice!
  

• So, that's it.  It was a fantastic weekend. Again, my heartfelt, giant thank you to everyone who donated.  Together we raised an amazing $2,545!  And I thank those who didn't donate but almost did.  I've been involved in lots of fundraising efforts but Alzheimer's really gets me in my heart and in my stomach.  Next year I will be right back in the thick of this tournament and its fund raising efforts.  Together, let's “Stick it to Alzheimer's" ...

Barry

" The BIG CHILL at The BIG HOUSE "

• The Big Chill at the Big House was a college ice hockey game played on December 11, 2010 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor . The game, which pitted Michigan with long-time rival Michigan State University , was held at Michigan Stadium (also known as "The Big House"), which normally hosts theMichigan State Football Team and has an official capacity of 109,901.

• In a rematch of the Cold War outdoor game of 2001, the 'Big Chill' set a world hockey record with an announced attendance of 113,411, surpassing the previous hockey record of 77,803 fans from the by over 35,000 people. Guinness World Records , counting tickets scanned rather than sold, announced 85,451 attendees as a closer figure. This was still enough to pass the previous record by almost 8,000. Their final count will be announced at a later date.
  

• With over 100,000 tickets sold when Michigan stopped sales to the general public on May 6, 2010, the rematch broke the past record of 77,803, set in the opening game of the 2010 IIHF World Championship at in Gelsenkirchen , Germany ."The Big Chill" was confirmed by the Michigan Daily on March 5, 2009, but the two schools did not officially announce the game until January 28, 2010.
  

• Sarnia's hockey player-turned-musician Kraig Nienhuis will be centre stage when hockey history is made this Saturday.  Nienhuis will perform his song, "This Game", prior to the outdoor contest between Michigan State and Michigan.
  

• Nienhuis has some experience singing at outdoor hockey games, having performed between periods at the NHL's Winter Classic in Buffalo, three years ago.  "I used to get nervous ... I'd be sick for a week," thinking about performing in front of such a huge crowd, admits Nienhuis. "But it doesn't bother me now."
  

• He does acknowledge, however, that snow on the guitar strings can cause problems.  "I try to keep tuning it right up until the moment I go on. ... Apart from that, I'm really at the mercy of the sound guy. If he does everything right, I'm confident I'll sound good," says Nienhuis.
  

• The 49-year-old, ex-Boston Bruin says he often performs at NHL alumni events, gigs that are often arranged by his friend Mark Messier. Nienhuis got to know Messier through Ken Linseman - a former Edmonton Oiler teammate of Messier's who was traded to the Bruins when Nienhuis played there - as well as through Messier's older brother Paul, Nienhuis's teammate when he played in Germany.