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Great game for a great cause

The stands were packed for the Battle of the Badges, Saturday night, as the Hope firefighters fended off the RCMP, all for a great cause.
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Roberta Wells drops the puck for firefighter and former RCMP Corporal George Johnston and Cst. Francois Lewis

The stands were packed for the Battle of the Badges, Saturday night, as the Hope firefighters fended off the RCMP, all for a great cause.Skating for the RCMP were Aaron Hoggan, a former Hope resident, former UBC Thunderbird, and now an officer with the RCMP. Also playing for the cops was his brother Mark Hoggan.  The hockey duo, whose brother Jeff plays professionally for Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg in Germany, turned the heat up on the firemen who were determined to defend their 2010 title.And the battle for the Tyler Wells Memorial Trophy remained close with the cops squeezing in a 9-8 win in the final period. The championship trophy is named after a young man who passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. His grandmother, Roberta Well, was asked to drop the puck for Johnston and RCMP constable, Francois Lewis, kicking off charity game.“It was good to see the game close,” said Hope firefighter and former RCMP officer George Johnston. “It was the kinda game I wanted to see.”With the firefighters coming off the ice just seconds into the game, dishing out comments to the bench about the cops speeding a little too fast down the ice this year, the game headed into high action early in the first period.“It’s not about winning or losing,” added Johnston, who also presented a Canucks jersey, signed by all the firefighters, cops, and game officials, to young Mason Dixon, as representative of the Canadian Cancer Society.Aaron Saito, on behalf of the Richmond Fire Department Society, donated $500 to the fundraising efforts and the Silver Creek firefighter, Ian Williams donated $200.In total the Battle of the Badges raised just over $3470 to go towards sponsoring Constable Les Betker, who is riding in the Cops for Cancer marathon bike ride for the third year in a row. All funds raised by the Cops for Cancer rider go toward researching childhood cancers and Camp Goodtimes.