NEW YORK, September 17. /TASS/. A charity ice hockey game, which will be played on Tuesday in New York, will help to raise awareness about the impact of global climate change, Russia’s famed ice hockey player and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Vyacheslav Fetisov told TASS.
The match will be held at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum before the pre-season game between NHL’s New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers. The charity match will involve top athletes and schoolkids.
"This will be more of an educational match than a charitable [one]," Fetisov said in an interview with TASS adding that the matchup would be held as part of The Last Game, which is a series of ice hockey matches aimed to raise awareness of the global climate change.
"We have already traveled around the world, playing in Africa’s Nairobi, Finland’s Helsinki, in the United Arab Emirates, and Israel," he continued. "We will now play in New York, then in Singapore, somewhere in Australia, and what’s more [we] are currently negotiating a match in India."
"We are trying to get as many people as possible involved in our team, which is fighting against global climate change," Fetisov stressed. "This match in New York will be held on the eve of a grand event - the opening of the UN General Assembly’s session, which among other topics will focus on issues regarding global climate change."
Russia’s two-time Olympic champion and three-time NHL Stanley Cup winner Fetisov announced plans in June to organize an international friendly ice hockey game on April 20, 2020 at the North Pole. According to him, the match was most likely to be played on a drifting ice floe, some 70-90 kilometers away from the geographical tag of the North Pole.
"Next year, we will try organizing a match at the North Pole in order to draw attention to the Arctic’s problems," he continued. "The ice is rapidly melting in the Arctic and we are trying to draw young people’s attention to the fact that this is a huge challenge for all of us living on the planet and efforts are needed to put a stop to this predicament."
Ice hockey stars from Canada, the United States, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland have already confirmed their participation in the planned North Pole match.
Commenting on the match in New York and Fetisov’s initiative, New York Islanders President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello said in a statement on Monday: "Our environment and the importance of Climate Change are important topics that we cannot ignore."
"To have the chance to support and help raise awareness for these efforts, while also working with Slava, makes this a fantastic event," Lamoriello stated. "We are proud to support and host The Last Game prior to our preseason game."
The series of The Last Game ice hockey matches are scheduled to take place in over 30 countries, which are threatened by global climate change. The honorary captains of The Last Game series are UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and His Holiness Pope Francis. In his capacity as UN Environment Patron for Polar Regions and Special Olympics Global Ambassador and UNESCO Champion for Sport, Fetisov is organizing The Last Game events from Singapore to Scandinavia and from Azerbaijan to Argentina.