Lawmakers fall to lobbyists on ice

A hockey team of members of Congress and their staffers fell to a squad of lobbyists Thursday night by a score of 5-3 in the annual Congressional Hockey Challenge, held at the Verizon Center.

The lawmakers’ team featured Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Pat Meehan (D-Pa.), Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) and Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.).

{mosads}The event raised more than $100,000 for the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, a Washington-based youth hockey organization.

The game began shortly after 6 p.m. with a strong offensive push by the lawmakers, and the first goal was scored four minutes in by Andrew Mills, a staffer with Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.). Halfway through the first period, the lobbyists’ team rebounded with back-to-back goals, closing out the period with a one-goal lead.

Weiner played goalie for the lawmakers for most of the game, and Kerry was out on the ice as much as any other offensive player, despite having had both of his hips replaced in the past two years. 

Over in the lawmakers’ bench area, three well-known professional hockey players mingled with the politicos: 2010 Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane (a native of Higgins’s Buffalo, N.Y., district), former Carolina Hurricanes goalie Kevin Weekes and former Boston Bruins right wing Willie O’Ree, who made history in 1958 as the first black player in the National Hockey League. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was also on the sidelines the entire evening.

Early in the second period, the lawmakers picked up another goal, but lobbyists scored on the buzzer at the end of the second, prompting speculation that referees might have to review the tape to make sure the goal was good.

The third period began with a 3-2 lead for the lobbyists, which was erased when Gerritt Lansing, a staffer for Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), scored for the lawmakers, assisted by Kerry.

A goal soon after by Bridgestone lobbyist Christian Gullott gave the lobbyists another one-goal lead, this time 4-3, with four minutes left. Near the one-minute mark, Weekes signaled to Weiner to abandon the lawmakers’ net to allow for six offensive players on the ice, instead of the traditional five and a goalie.

The action got heated with about 40 seconds to go when John “Goody” Goodwin, chief of staff to Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), and AGCA lobbyist Sean O’Neill mixed it up and threw some punches. The two hugged each other moments later.

Ten seconds before the end of the game, the lobbyists scored their last goal, bringing the final score to 5-3.

Following a photo-op and numerous media interviews, the lobbyist team could be heard whooping and cheering in the locker room. The festivities reportedly continued at Clyde’s, a nearby watering hole.

On Friday, Kane and his Blackhawks teammates will visit President Obama at the White House, where they will take part in a youth street hockey clinic on the South Lawn with Quigley and Higgins, among others.

For photos of the game click here.