Rock stars hit ice for charity spectacle

BY MARC LALONDE

marc.lalonde@transcontinental.ca ‘You guys look like you’re ready to win some Stanley Cups,’ Barenaked Ladies band members were told Sunday afternoon as they donned Montreal Canadiens jerseys to play in a charity exhibition hockey game in St. Lazare Sunday afternoon.

The lifetime Toronto Maple Leafs fans were less than thrilled.

Ladies’ drummer Tyler Stewart and bassist Jim Creeggan arrived at the St. Lazare Recreation Complex a little later than they’d hoped — after an all-night bus ride from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., through a blinding blizzard — but the smiles that awaited them and the former Montreal Canadiens who suited up to benefit the Club Optimiste St. Lazare. “I’m a Maple Leafs fan,” said Stewart, who put up with a little good-natured ribbing before heading out to play against the 94.7 HITS FM Hitmen with the Habs’ oldtimers, whose ranks included Stéphane Richer, Lucien Deblois and Sergio Momesso. “We played Sault Ste. Marie last night and we arrived in Montreal at 11:30 a.m.,” said a visibly-tired Tyler Stewart. “We spent a lot of that time planning strategy and set plays that we’re famous for,” he said, tongue planted firmly in his cheek.

The Ladies, long known for their sense of humour, turned serious when discussing the game — which took a big hunk out the band’s day off — a rare treat when on tour. “It’s a great thing to do, though. We love playing hockey and it’s a great treat for us to get to play for a good cause. That’s why we came,” he said.

Unused to full-equipment tilts, Creeggan had to borrow shoulder pads and hockey pants in order to get on the ice, but as he got a lesson in putting them on, he waxed eloquent about the band’s first video — a remake of the Bruce Cockburn hit Lovers in Dangerous Time - that saw them play in the bed of a pickup truck while cruising the streets of childhood home Scarborough, Ont., interrupting street-hockey games along the way. “That was absolutely great to do and the hockey’s still a big part of our lives,” he said.

It was a good experience as well as memorable, Stewart said. “That video was shot on the two coldest days of the year.”

Radio station 94.7 HITS FM, which organized the exhibition tilt, managed to help raise over $10,000 for the St. Lazare charity group. “It’s a sold-out event, and I’m jazzed. It’s like a dream come true to play with guys like Stéphane Richer and Sergio Momesso. I’m just watching them skate. I just managed to meet (Richer) and it’s unbelievable how big he is, how big his hands are. If he takes a slapshot, I’m not going down to block it, that’s for sure,” he said.