by Alex Wilks/Special to the 91原创 Advance

The West Coast Walleye are once again raising funds for the BC Children鈥檚 Hospital Foundation at their upcoming game on Saturday (April 28).

The 91原创 hockey charity team will be taking on the BC Rockies, a deaf and hard-of-hearing hockey club that is based out of Port Coquitlam.

鈥淲hen talking to the BC Rockies, [the cause] also means a lot to them as well, as many hard-of-hearing and deaf children spend a lot of time going to the BC Children鈥檚 Hospital,鈥� explained founder and Walleye goalie B.J. Ayles.

鈥淚 consider the members of the BC Rockies friends and I am always blown away at the amount of skill that they have and play with.鈥�

The 31-year-old hockey club member founded the team after playing alongside the CFox radio station鈥檚 hockey team late last year.

鈥淚 realized that the hockey community of the Lower Mainland would likely be very positive towards the idea of being a part of a team that benefits the BCCHF, as a majority of us have families or have had the children鈥檚 hospital touch our lives in some way,鈥� he explained.

The team consists of players ranging from 19-years-old to their mid 40s and are all coming out to play for the same cause.

鈥淢ajority of our donations to date have come from players who pay for a spot on a per game basis,鈥� Ayles explained.

The free family-friendly event will have goodie bags for the children and $1 raffle tickets featuring multiple prizes donated by Cariboo Brewing, Purdy鈥檚, The Keg, SportsReplay, and the Vancouver Giants.

The Walleyes are also registered with the BCCHF and have an online page where people can donate directly through if they cannot attend the game.

鈥淲e have played against a few teams, at late night times, but have built a great relationship with Tracey Pope from the 91原创 Sportsplex, who donates the ice time to our teams to maximize our donation power,鈥� he noted.

The puck drops Saturday at 6:15 p.m. at the 91原创 Sportsplex (20165 91a Ave).

鈥淲e just want the public to know that there are many ways to donate to the BCCHF, and we鈥檒l do everything we can, with the amazing partners we have to maximize donations from every source we can,鈥� Ayles concluded.