'Chicks with Sticks' hit the ice to fight breast cancer

WINTHROP, Mass. (WHDH) -- They're more accustomed to watching the action on ice, but a group of Winthrop hockey moms are lacing up to raise money to fight breast cancer.

“Last year, January 18th of 2012 I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” said Leanne Silverman.

It’s the kind of news that stops you right in your tracks, but Silverman skated forward...literally.

“In the fall, I go, after having cancer, I’m like, I wanna play hockey. My daughter’s been playing since she was five, my son plays and my husband plays. It’s not fair. We always say we wanna play hockey, so my husband goes, ‘let’s do it for a fundraiser,’” said Silverman.

And so ‘Chicks with Sticks was born,’ an idea to put hockey moms on the ice but it’s an event that came together in the stands.

“My daughter’s on two teams, my son’s on a team so the majority of them are just friends from friends you see at the rink and the other ones you see down here all the time and Facebook was a big thing. My husband put it out there and it just snowballed,” said Silverman.

Clearly, the main objective is to raise some money and awareness for a great cause, but don’t let the pink fool you! These chicks with sticks will be there to play hockey, but the opponent won’t be wearing pink or white, the opponent is breast cancer.

“We have some moms that are very competitive. When we practice usually they’re like ‘pink team’ ‘white team.’ I’m like no, let’s just play pickup games,” said Silverman.

“When you’re out there you can’t tell who’s who, you know someone’s coming at you, but you don’t know if it’s your neighbor or someone you don’t know,” said Ailish White.

What they do know is, they can't shoot like seguin, pass like patrice or defend like Dougie but like the Bruins, they're living the dream.

“We want to start our women’s league. We’re thinking about doing that and we’re having a blast,” said Jen Holmes.

“When can an adult woman play a hockey game and get away with it?” said another player.

Getting comfortable on the ice and in the locker room, though, is another story.

“I’m never going to yell at my kids ‘cause it’s a tough thing to wear this equipment and be able to skate and stick handle,” said Holmes.

“So all of this stuff I have on is borrowed from people in town. I hadn’t put on skates in 25 years. Last week was the first time. It was ugly,” said a player.

It may not be the prettiest hockey, but ‘Chicks with Sticks’ is without question a beautiful event.

“We have a little fight in us with the fact that we’re a little competitive as well. But definitely it’s a great cause and hopefully we get a good turnout,” said Holmes.

These "Chicks with Sticks" will battle it out in a 4 p.m. charity game March 9 at Larsen rink. Tickets are $5 to raise money to fight breast cancer.