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NHL, prospects join Sabres alumni to improve Buffalo Park

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Fri, Jun 3rd 2016 06:25 pm

5th annual NHL Green legacy tree project celebrates league's ongoing commitment to environment

As part of the National Hockey League's commitment to preserve and support the local environments of host cities for NHL events, NHL Green and the Buffalo Sabres Green Team announced today a legacy tree project to commemorate the 2016 NHL Draft in Buffalo.

In cooperation with the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, the NHL Foundation is donating 30 trees to represent each member club's commitment to environmental sustainability. NHL Green first launched the legacy tree project at the 2012 NHL Draft in Pittsburgh.

The 2016 NHL Green legacy tree project will take place during the NHL Combine, an event that brings approximately 100 top prospects for the NHL Draft into one place for interviews with NHL teams as well as medical and physical testing.

The planting event will bring together NHL prospects and NHL alumni to enhance an underserved community with the addition of various species of maturing trees: swamp white oak, serviceberry, sycamore, freeman maple, river birch, red oak, yellow buckeye, katsura and red buds. The trees will take root at Buffalo's Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, a short drive from First Niagara Center, home of the Sabres.

"The Buffalo Sabres are very proud to host the 2016 NHL Draft and to continue the NHL Green legacy tree project by planting 30 trees in Martin Luther King, Jr. Park," said Russ Brandon, president of the Buffalo Sabres. "We are pleased to partner with the NHL Green program on this event and to continue our efforts to preserve and support the health of our local community."

The trees are not only a point of community pride but, together, the trees offer environmental benefits to residents - helping to reduce local carbon dioxide levels, improve air quality and mitigate stormwater runoff.

"We hope these trees serve as a visible reminder of hockey's commitment to our local environment," said Omar Mitchell, NHL VP of corporate social responsibility. "The NHL Green legacy tree project is an example of our commitment to enhance the health, livability and long-term sustainability of NHL communities."

The Buffalo Sabres, First Niagara Center, City of Buffalo and NHL will host the 2016 NHL Draft on June 24-25.

The Buffalo Sabres are dedicated to the sustainability of the environment in Western New York and Southern Ontario through the "Blue & Gold Make Green Initiative." The organization is committed to creating programming to help fans reduce their environmental footprint and, at the same time, educate them on conservation issues, teaching them how to be greener and directing them to additional resources where they can learn more about environmental issues.

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