Lawmakers trounce Lobbyists in annual charity hockey sport

After the Home of Representatives gaveled out for the week on Wednesday, Home Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) traded voting sheets for a sheet of ice and laced up for the Congressional Hockey Problem.

Emmer and the remainder of Workforce Lawmakers beat Workforce Lobbyists 8-3 after taking an early lead, marking the fifth consecutive win for the lawmakers within the thirteenth annual charity sport.

“Once you’re on the bench, doesn’t matter who you’re … Doesn’t matter when you’re a Republican. Politics don’t matter. You simply come on, you play, and it’s for an incredible trigger,” Emmer, a famous hockey lover in Congress who performed for the College of Alaska at Fairbanks, mentioned on the ice after the sport. He was all smiles as he held the occasion’s trophy.

“Let’s face it, ice solely exists in a single place that’s in heaven,” Emmer mentioned.

The GOP consultant was technically the one lawmaker to play in Wednesday’s sport at MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Va., with the remainder of the group made up of Congressional employees that included Rob Wagener from Rep. Scott Fitzgerald’s (R-Wis.) workplace and Amber Moore from Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin’s (D-Ailing.) workplace.

“Extra of the worthy members of Congress would play if there wasn’t a fly-out evening,” mentioned Emmer, who has performed within the occasion since he got here to Congress in 2015. Home Democrats had been additionally out of city at their annual points retreat in Baltimore, Md. 

The Washington insiders on the ice obtained some help from three hockey Olympians: 2018 gold medalist Haley Skarupa performed for Workforce Lawmakers, whereas 2018 gold medalist and 2022 silver medalist Megan Keller in addition to 2022 silver medalist Hayley Scamurra performed for Workforce Lobbyists.

The Workforce Lobbyists roster included Trevor Hanger of Forbes Tate, who made headlines a number of years in the past as an emergency backup goalie for the Washington Capitals.

The Congressional Hockey Problem has raised greater than $1 million for charities since 2009, and organizers mentioned it raised practically $150,000 this yr. Beneficiaries embrace the Skilled Girls’s Hockey Gamers’ Affiliation to help the expansion of ladies’s and lady’s hockey, Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Membership in Washington, DC, Capital Beltway Warriors Hockey Program, USA Warriors Hockey and the annual “22 Hours of Hockey” occasion, hosted by the Tampa Warriors.

Emmer teased that he’ll use his hockey-guy abilities within the new Home GOP majority as Whip.

“They ain’t seen nothing but,” he mentioned. “We play just a little totally different. We like battle. We like to combine it up just a little bit. Individuals are inclined to – let’s say they get just a little juices going, they have a tendency to let you know what they actually assume, after which you possibly can determine what the issue is and resolve it.”

“I can’t anticipate subsequent yr. I feel I gotta play effectively into my 70s,” mentioned Emmer, 61.