Rangers’ Richards turns to clothing line during NHL lockout
With NHL games up to and including Dec. 15 already canceled, the remainder of the season remains in doubt and NHL players have had much more free time. So Rangers center and alternate captain Brad Richards, when he’s not putting on charity events like Operation Hat Trick to benefit Hurricane Sandy victims, is busy working on his wardrobe. Richards is the new face for UNTUCKit, a men’s clothing line.
“Just joined up with UNTUCKit, a clothing company that’s kind of meant to be more un-tucked,” Richards told The Post’s David Satriano last week. “But it is fitted like a shirt that will be tucked in. Very comfortable, very stylish, and I decided to join up and be a spokesperson.”
Richards, a wine connoisseur, was on hand at New York Vinters in Tribeca displaying the clothing line, which was created in 2010 with the idea men needed shirts they could wear untucked that still fit well. The shirts include button-downs, plaids and polo shirts among other options. The colors and names of the shirts were inspired by varying wine regions and grape varieties.
What does Richards have planned if the lockout lasts much longer? Perhaps another charity hockey game, this time in Central Park.
“I’d definitely be involved in it for sure. I think everybody that played in that [Atlantic City] game all said that they would love to, but we will see where that goes,” Richards said.
In his first season with the Rangers, Richards led the team to the Eastern Conference finals, playing in all 82 regular-season games with 25 goals and 66 points.
For more information on UNTUCKit, check out http://www.untuckit.com. To bid on a game-used jersey from Operation Hat Trick, with all proceeds going to Hurricane Sandy victims, visit http://www.steinersports.com and click on the “Hurricane Sandy” tab. The auction ends Thursday, Dec. 6, at 10 p.m.
Bronx Bombers to BB guns
Peter Billingsley will forever be attached to “A Christmas Story,” in which he played the young Ralphie as he tries to get his Red Rider BB Gun from Santa. However the grown up Billingsley, now a TV and Broadway producer (including “A Christmas Story: The Musical,” which opened last week) also grew up attached to the Yankees. Before moving out west, he lived in Manhattan and he was not only a Bombers fan, but also acted in commercials with Reggie Jackson and Billy Martin. The spot with Reggie was for Blue Bonnet Margarine, the one with Martin was for Yankees Franks.
“Billy had the reputation for being a hothead, but he couldn’t have been cooler,” Billingsley said “My grandfather gave me some advice, he told me not to let Billy give me any s–t and when I told Billy he signed a baseball to my grandfather that said ‘Dear Fred, don’t worry I didn’t give Peter any s–t.’ He kept the baseball til the day he died.”
Quenching thirst
Perhaps help is on the way for the Jets. The Coca-Cola Company has launched a strategic alliance with Endomondo (www.endomondo.com), a social fitness community with more than 12 million users worldwide. The Company’s first contribution: new POWERADE hydration feature, educates users about how much they need to drink during and after each workout for optimum hydration levels to enhance performance.
Classic tale of helping others
After CCM chief marketing officer Glen Thornborough read the story in The Rumble about 8-year-old Christopher John and his teammates from a Hackensack, N.J., youth hockey team, the Avalanche, petitioning their coach to conduct a Winter Classic at Harlem’s Lasker Rink — and that the kids offered to pay for the ice time out of their own piggy banks — Thornborough called coach Tom Duhamel.
CCM wants to encourage young hockey players to rally around the sport. So Thornborough offered to pay for the ice time. The kids from the Avalanche and their opposing team, the L.I. Royals, have been encouraged to try and raise as much as they can for Hurricane Sandy victims. Every member of the Avalanche were in one way or another affected, as were the kids from the Royals.
CCM agreed to match any donation made to Sandy by the teams — and the pay-it-forward principle has caught on. Once Lasker Rink’s general manager, Jose Miliano, heard about CCM’s offer to pay for the ice time, he decided to let the teams play for free later this month so all of the money CCM and the kids are donating can go to Sandy victims.
Defining greatness of the Garden
It isn’t only the Knicks lighting up the Garden … it’s the camera that shot John Starks’ famous dunk against the Bulls in the 1993 playoffs, to the skates the Rangers’ Stephane Matteau wore when he scored the game-winning goal in the second overtime to beat the Devils in the Eastern Conference finals in 1994 to the boots worn by “Rowdy” Roddy Piper during WrestleMania I. With the second of three phases of the Arena’s renovation now complete, the sixth floor concourse is home to two new exhibits celebrating MSG’s storied history: Garden 366 and Defining Moments. Fans voted on the top 20 Defining Moments in Garden history spanning sports, entertainment and politics and 10 are now commemorated with special displays featuring photos, memorabilia and additional artifacts.