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DECEMBER. 2015 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM 08 STOPs STARTS & USA HOCKEY NEWS & UPDATES PHOTOS COURTESY OF Getty Images; North American Hockey League his season a record number of Americans are wearing the "C" for their respective NHL clubs. In total, eight American-born players are leading their teams, eclipsing the previ- ous high of six homegrown captains. Dustin Brown is the elder statesman having served as captain of the Los Angeles Kings since 2008. He is joined by David Backes (St. Louis Blues); Brian Gionta (Buffalo Sabres); Nick Foligno (Columbus Blue Jackets); Max Pacioretty (Montreal Canadiens); Andy Greene (N.J. Devils); Ryan McDonagh (N.Y. Rangers); and Joe Pavelski (San Jose Sharks). Greene, Foligno, Pacioretty and Pavelski were all launched into the position of leadership at the beginning of the season. Gionta is serving his second campaign as captain in Buffalo, and Backes has held the honor since the 2011-12 season. McDonagh is in his second season serving as captain of the Broadway Blueshirts, and is the team's third consecutive American-born captain, following Ryan Callahan and Chris Drury. T U.S. Captains Leading The Charge The call to action came out just before Halloween. The North American Hockey League was asking its teams to "Shave the Date" and launch another successful Movember campaign to raise money and awareness of men's health issues. This was the fifth year that the Tier II Junior hockey league has done its part to change the face of men's health by enlisting all 22 teams and more than 500 players to participate. The NAHL Movember campaign is all about bringing back the moustache, having fun and doing it for a serious cause: men's health, specifically prostate and testicular cancer initiatives. Players started the month clean-shaven and had to grow their best mustache (no beards or goatees) over the course of the month. Last season, the Janesville Jets raised more money than any other NAHL team and won a team prize package from Gongshow Gear. This year bragging rights were up for grabs with final tallies being tabulated at press time. Fans were also offered a chance to get in on the act by joining their favorite NAHL teams and registering on team web pages. Since the beginning of the initiative in 2003, a total of 4,746,905 Mo Bros and Mo Sistas have signed up and over $649 million dollars have been raised to fund 832 different men's health projects. NAHL Makes It A Movember To Remember The first NHL games were played on this date. At the time of its inception, the NHL was made up of five franchises: the Canadiens and the Wanderers (both of Montreal), the Ottawa Senators, the Quebec Bulldogs and the Toronto Arenas. The Montreal teams won two victories that first day, as the Canadiens beat Ottawa, 7-4, and the Wanderers edged Toronto, 10-9. Dec. 19, 1917 THIS DAY IN HOCKEY HISTORY Andy Greene Joe Pavelski Brian Gionta Max Pacioretty David Backes Nick Foligno Dustin Brown Ryan McDonagh ®