Holmstrom to teach the fun of floor hockey to 600 youths

Detroit Red Wings forward Tomas Holmstrom will visit Maples Elementary School in Dearborn on Wednesday, January 11, 2012, as part of the Red Wings School Assembly Program sponsored by the Detroit Red Wings Foundation and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. The event will begin at 2:15 p.m. in the school gymnasium.

Holmstrom will be joined by the Red Wings School Assembly team to introduce 600 students to the sport of hockey through a youth street and floor hockey initiative in which the Wings provide equipment and hands-on instruction to local elementary schools. The program began in 2010 to introduce kids to the sport of hockey and encourage an active and healthy lifestyle.

During each visit, the school assembly team opens the program with a lesson on exercise and healthy eating tips, followed by a fun face-off between teachers and students during a hockey shootout competition. Each school participating in the program receives two full sets of floor hockey equipment complete with hockey sticks and goalie nets courtesy of the Detroit Red Wings Foundation. A Red Wings folder and a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan keepsake magnet that lists five fun afterschool activities are also distributed to the students.

The Detroit Red Wings Foundation is an affiliate of Ilitch Charities, a 501 (c)(3) organization. The Foundation invests in the future of our community by providing funds and resources to worthy causes that contribute to the growth of the sport of hockey.