With stories about sports stars running dog fighting rings, and other beating their wives, or just being, in general, not “nice guys”, it’s absolutely fabulous that we have a “nice guy” like Vincent Lecavalier to look up to here in Tampa Bay. Actually, I’ve met several of the Tampa Bay Lightning players, and they’re all nice guys. It seems that hockey, as a sport, has more nice guys than other sports, and Vinnie is a gem.

Vinnie’s charity foundation, along with his corporate partners (Kane’s Furniture and DEX Imaging), has announced they’ll be donating $3 million towards the construction of the new building for All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg. I have a huge soft spot in my heart for All Children’s - I’ve not only been there with 2 of my own children, but my niece was there when she was just 1 for a long illness. This isn’t the first time that Vinnie Lecavalier has helped the hospital. With each goal he scores, he donates $1,000. With each assist, he donates $300. Since he started doing that in 2003, he’s donated over $70,000 to All Children’s.

The $3 million dollar gift will go towards creating a special wing called the Vincent Lecavalier Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. The corporate sponsors will provide half of the money, and the rest will be raised through events held by Vinnie’s foundation, like his poker tournament in Tampa on November 12.