If you’re like Doug Gilmour and you’ve never won a hockey pool, this might be the best season to end your drought.
The Canadian Cancer Society is calling on Ontario residents to donate $50 and join the Million Dollar Hockey Pool, Canada’s first major charitable sports pool to offer a $1 million prize.
Poolies who can correctly pick a winning NHL team for 45 consecutive games or more are eligible to scoop the grand prize of $1 million. If more than one participant runs a 45-game winning streak, the cash will be divided up. Those who don’t win any of the prizes — which include a trip to Los Angeles, a Toronto Maple Leafs game in a private box and weekly cash prizes — can still take comfort in knowing their money is going to a worthy cause.
Last year the Canadian Cancer Society invested $45 million in cancer research and helped nearly 50,000 Ontarians through information and support services.
“This is for a million dollars. We want to have some fun with this,” says Gilmour, who will be offering tips to poolies on the contest’s website. “We all know the serious of this disease. Why not? If you’re into hockey pools, just pick a team and you’re there.”
Although NHL rules prevented Gilmour from diving into fantasy hockey in his playing days, he got into it with friends after he retired.
“I came close, but I never won,” he says. “It’s more the playoff pools that I would do. My thought was, you pick the teams you think are going to go all the way, but for some reason there was always an upset.”
Gilmour joins Fox Sports’ Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole in promoting the pool.
“We know that many Ontarians already participate in some kind of fantasy sports league,” says CCS marketing director Mike Kirkpatrick. “With Million Dollar Hockey Pool, sports pool fans can now support cancer research and services that help people who are living with the disease.”
