Owens connects to Phantoms auction

YOUNGSTOWN — For one Mahoning Valley Phantoms staff member, tonight’s Mario Lemieux Foundation Night jersey auction hits a personal note.

At age 9, Matt Owens, the Phantoms’ Game Night Operations Director, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, the same type of cancer that Mario Lemieux had.

“Not long after my treatment, Mario got my name from a Pittsburgh Pirates charity event in support of cancer patients and, out of nowhere, mailed me autographed picture and a letter from him saying that he was supporting me in my fight,” said Owens, 26. “As a little kid, that was a pretty neat to get something like that from such a high-profile athlete.”

Tonight at the Chevrolet Centre, the Phantoms will wear special jerseys that will be auctioned off after the 7:15 p.m. game against the Motor City Machine.

“I think it’s very exciting to be working with the Mario Lemieux Foundation this weekend,” said Owens, a Boardman native. “Helping such a worthy cause is always great and the fact that it’s Mario Lemieux’s cause makes it that much more exciting.”

Lemieux spokesman Andrew Parish says that the Foundation is pleased to team up with a person whom Mario reached out to in the past.

“The Lemieux Foundation is happy to be working with Matt,” Parish said. “He is the perfect example of someone who has overcome Hodgkin’s disease and has decided to use that opportunity to help others do the same.”

The jerseys feature the Pittsburgh Penguins’ black, gold and white color scheme with the Foundation logo on the jersey chest.

The team will auction off 24 jerseys worn by Mahoning Valley players in addition to one Mario Lemieux 66 jersey. All jerseys, including the Lemieux uniform, will be autographed by the player whose number they bear.

Winning bidders also will receive an autographed stick from the Phantom whose jersey they buy.

The Mario Lemieux Foundation was formed in 1993 by Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins who had his 1993-’94 NHL season cut short when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease.

The main objective of the Mario Lemieux Foundation is to fund promising medical research projects being conducted by talented scientists.