Deb Placey

A new CBA proposal by the NHL fostered new hope Tuesday that a full 82-game season may yet be saved.

But the League's work stoppage hasn't prevented the NHL community from giving back. Devils' MSG Plus host and reporter Deb Placey has been using her free time to step up her involvement with Pink Aid, a Connecticut-based organization that provides breast cancer support services for local women in need.
 
Placey lost her mother and grandmother to breast cancer and became involved with Pink Aid for its first annual Pink Chair Lunch and Fashion Show last year.
 
Presented with free time due to the lockout, Placey said being asked to co-chair this year's event came at the perfect time.
 
“It was an amazing experience,” she said last week.  “It was a lot of work, but it was for such a good cause and for a cause that hits home for me.”
 
The event, which was held Oct. 4 at Mitchells of Westport in Connecticut, nearly doubled its fundraising from the previous year and raised almost $500,000.
 
Plenty of other organizations, Placey said, raise money for research.  So the funds from the event are going to a different cause.
 
“All the money we raised is going to three local hospitals in Fairfield County for women who are underinsured or uninsured,” she said.
 
For the time being, the NHL lockout has stripped many fans of their favorite sport and anchors of their day jobs.  But for Placey, the timing of another NHL work stoppage put things in perspective.
 
“This is a time where I can volunteer and give back,” she said.  “And it really did energize me to keep it going.”
 
Click here for a full recap of the event. For more on Pink Aid, visit www.pinkaid.org.