New Jersey Devils to host annual Hockey Fights Cancer Night in partnership with RWJBarnabas Health

The New Jersey Devils will host their annual Hockey Fights Cancer Night in partnership with RWJBarnabas Health on Saturday when they face off against the Buffalo Sabres at 7 p.m. at the Prudential Center in Newark.

RWJBarnabas Health, together with Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, is the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Devils fans have plenty of ways to get involved to help raise funds for the Cancer Transportation Program at Community Medical Center: There will be a Mystery Puck sale on the main concourse prior to the game outside of Section 20, and a limited number of player-autographed pucks, which will be sold for $25 (cash only).

Additionally, fans will have the opportunity to bid on the Devils’ Hockey Fights Cancer-themed jerseys. The auction will go live Nov. 25 and run through Dec. 2. Those wishing to place a bid can do so at newjerseydevils.com/HFC. Funds raised through that night’s 50/50 will benefit the Cancer Transportation Program at Community Medical Center as well.

Additionally, the New Jersey Devils will host 13-year-old Charlie Shomers, a cancer patient and lifelong Devils fan, and his family at the game. Shomers, from Hillsborough, was diagnosed with ependymoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in July earlier this year. After a successful surgery in July to remove the tumor and six weeks of radiation therapy treatment, Shomers completed treatment in October at the Bristol Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and is on the road to recovery. His gameday experience will include a one-day contract signed by General Manager Tom Fitzgerald, an official jersey and locker stall, meet and greet with his favorite Devils player, Jack Hughes, watch warmups from the penalty box, join the starting lineup read in the locker room, participate in a ceremonial puck drop and ride the Zamboni during the second intermission.

The Devils will also honor Dr. Rahul Parikh, medical director of the Laurie Proton Therapy Center at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, as the Hero of the Game. Parikh leads a team of specialists who provide sophisticated radiation therapy treatments to both adult and pediatric cancer patients across the RWJBarnabas Health system.

Prior to the game, the national anthem will be sung by Samantha Blossey, whose parents are both cancer survivors. Lily Giordano of the New Jersey Colonials will serve as junior captain of the game.

“As RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey continue to transform cancer care together through advances in cancer prevention, research and treatment, we are appreciative of the ongoing support of the NHL and our partner, the New Jersey Devils,” Dr. Steven Libutti, director, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and senior vice president, oncology services, RWJBarnabas Health, said. “Hockey Fights Cancer Night truly helps to lift the spirits of cancer patients and their families by paying tribute to their strength and perseverance and reinforces the need to support cancer research and care.”