Hockey Legend Rick Middleton Visits Again

Former Boston Bruin great Rick Middleton visited the PLUS Company Nashua headquarters on August 22, chatting with clients and staff. It was hard to tell who was more excited with staff mugging it up and clients sharing their impressive knowledge of hockey. In addition to spreading cheer with the adults
with intellectual disabilities and brain injuries that The PLUS Company serves, Middleton is actively supporting the agency with his involvement in the upcoming “Day of Dreams” golf tournament. Middleton is currently head of the Bruins Alumni Association. He also served as the keynote speaker at The PLUS Company annual Wild Irish Breakfast fundraising event this past March.

Middleton began his professional hockey career as the first-round draft pick for the New York Rangers in 1974. He finished off the season with a flourish as rookie of the year in the American Hockey League, and then played left wing with the Rangers for two years before he was traded to the Boston Bruins in 1976. Middleton made his mark quickly as a Bruin scoring a hat trick in his first game. By 1985, Middleton had earned his place as captain of the Bruins. In 1987-88 he played his last of his twelve seasons with the Bruins. He retired from the game after recording 448 goals, 540 assists for 988 in 1005 games with five straight seasons of at least forty goals. From 2002-2007 Middleton was a studio analyst for New England Sports Network (NESN) covering the Boston Bruins.

The “Day of Dreams” golf classic will take place at Vesper Country Club in Tyngsboro Massachusetts on September 24^th. Middleton will be one of the 32 Boston sports celebrities playing with each foursome.  Among those expected to participate are a number of former Boston Bruins, Ray Bourque, Ken Hodge, Derek Sanderson, Don Sweeney and others, along with athletes associated with the Patriots, Celtics
and Red Sox, such as Luis Tiant and Bill Lee. The athletes will be competing against each other while the foursome each one is grouped with will play a scramble format.

The event will raise funds for The PLUS Company programs and facilities. While a large portion of funding that PLUS receives comes from the government, the agency relies on grants and fundraising for adult education programs, vocational programs and life skills programs. The golf tournament
will enable clients to participate in a variety of classes and trainings that would otherwise be unavailable.

Volunteers such as Terry Robinson of Amherst who is directing the tournament, and Rick Middleton are crucial to enabling The PLUS Company to be able to provide meaningful opportunities to the clients they serve. As an additional way to raise funds the agency will be holding a raffle at the tournament. The array of prizes is amazing and includes a seven-day cruise, as well as TV’s, cameras, iPads, iPods, binoculars,
watches, and much more. Tickets are 1 for $10 or 5 for $25 and the winner need not be present at the drawing. A limited number of sponsorships are still available. For more information on the event please contact candreola@pluscompany.org or phone 889-0652.