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Celebrities, hockey greats share the ice at Fenway event

E-mail|Link|Comments () January 2, 2010 04:26 PM

Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

Claude Julien, head coach of the Bruins, got some encouragement from pint-sized players as he headed for the ice.

By Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff

As a roster of celebrities and former Bruins finished their pre-game warmups on the makeshift Fenway Park ice, John "Pie" McKenzie leaned against the boards, near where second base would be, and took it all in.

"I feel real young again," said McKenzie, an undersized but aggressive forward known for his dogged play on the 1970 and '72 Stanley Cup winners, as snowflakes melted into his white hair. "I just wish my body would feel the same way. My legs won't move like they used to."

A moment later, Ken Hodge, the great goal scorer, skated up from behind and put the 72-year-old McKenzie in a playful headlock. Then Hodge turned and introduced Kiefer Sutherland, star of "24," to TV producer and Red Sox co-owner Tom Werner, each of whom skated nearby.

All wore wide smiles -- after all, they were on the ice at Fenway, some of them past their hockey prime, some of them having never known a hockey prime, all of them getting to skate before 30,000 people.

A day after the Bruins beat the Flyers in the Winter Classic, a collection of celebrities and former Bruins are taking to the ice today at Fenway Park, for the AT&T Legends Classic, a charity fundraiser headlined by friends Cam Neely and Denis Leary, the Bruins vice president and hockey hall of famer and the homegrown comedian and actor, respectively.

The game raises money for the Boston Bruins and Boston Red Sox foundations and for Hockey Fights Cancer, a charity organized by the NHL and its players' association.