Leafs team with Shoppers for youth

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A city Native agency is among the groups who will benefit from the sales of the Toronto Maple Leafs' official calendar this season.

The National Hockey League club has hooked up with the pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart to produce a rather unique calendar.

Instead of on-ice action shots of its players, the Maple Leafs' calendar features its members in various superhero cartoon costumes.

Captain Mats Sundin is Sunstar, who is the Centre of the Universe. Sergei Berezin is Sniper, who shoots first and asks questions later. And forward Steve Thomas is Stump, a character who gives his opponents the option of having him go around or through them. Even coach and general manager Pat Quinn has a character, Mentor, who boldly leads the fight against the forces of evil.

The calendar also includes a two-page spread of the Leafs' All-Star Federation, featuring caricatures of 11 former greats such as Charlie(The Bomber) Conacher, Syl (Slippery Syl) Apps, Johnny (The China Wall) Bower and George (Army) Armstrong.

The calendar, which costs $3 plus tax, is available at Shoppers Drug Mart outlets in Ontario, as well as at the Leafs' home rink, the Air Canada Centre.

All proceeds from the calendar will be split among five Toronto-area charities. One of those is Native Child and Family Services of Toronto.

Executive director Kenn Richard is understandably pleased his agency will be one of those that will benefit from the calendar sales.

"It came out of the blue, so we were quite delighted," said Richard, adding after his association was chosen as a potential beneficiary he simply had to send a letter to the Leafs documenting what the agency does.

"I didn't see any problem with it, obviously."

Richard has been told his association could receive upwards of $25,000 from the project.

"That's not a bad hunk," he said.

The Native Child and Family Services of Toronto has an annual budget of $4.1 million.

"[The $25,000] is a drop in the bucket, but it is money you just can't get from somewhere else," Richard said.

The others who will benefit from the calendar sales are the Pape Adolescent Resource Centre, Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness/Martin Arnold Kruze Memorial Fund, Youth Link and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind's Lake Joseph Centre.

All these associations work with youth.

"Today's youth are tomorrow's leaders," said Maple Leafs' president Ken Dryden. "By assisting them now, Toronto Maple Leafs and Shoppers Drug Mart are helping to ensure a better future for them and for all of us."

Dryden said these groups were all selected because they also have something else in common.

"We deliberately selected charities and organizations that do not receive the same level of public recognition or funding as do some higher-profile groups," he said. "By giving them the recognition they deserve, we hope to bring these groups to the attention of those who could benefit from their services, as well as to those who could offer the charities additional financial assistance."