Molson in the Community

April 30th marks the official start of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, and we couldn’t be more excited! The Habs & Leafs flags are flying proudly at our Montreal and Toronto breweries as we all eagerly wait for the puck to drop.

Communities and fans will come together as we all cheer on our favourite teams. Each of the 16 teams have played hard to clinch their playoff spots for the opportunity and honour to raise the Cup.

Which team will you be rooting for? Let us know in our comments section for a chance to win a cooler bag filled with goodies! (contest closes at 3pm EST on Friday, May 3, 2013).

Here’s to the game this land gave us.

Molson Coors Employees with Toronto Maple Leafs’ Francois Beauchemin, Luke Schenn, Jean-Sebastien Giguere and reporter Joe Bowen!

After much hard work, we finally kicked off our 2010 United Way campaign on October 5 here in Toronto!  It wouldn’t be in true Molson Coors style if we didn’t invite some special guests along  for the kick-off ride, so we called out to Brian Burke (Toronto Maple Leafs GM), Joe Bowen (Leafs broadcaster) and a few  players as well!  Luke Schenn, Francois Beauchemin AND Jean-Sebastien Giguere showed up and gave some hockey lessons on our very own rink!

It gets better…the guys posed for pictures and signed autographs for employees too!  After all of the outdoor excitement, everyone headed inside to our John Molson Café for some delicious beer and watched as Brian Burke took over the room.

This year, we hope to raise $500,000 to donate, and so far we have been having awesome success raising funds.  I heard all about last year’s campaign, and am so excited that this year I get to partake in all of the 2010 United Way events.

Last night I went to our first United Way pub night, also at the John Molson Café, which included beer (of course) awesome live music, and wings from St. Louis Bar and Grille…I may have overindulged just a bit, but it was all worth it! I should also note that along with the food and beer, there were several games set up and employees got entered into a draw to win Leafs tickets.  I’m elated to say I work amongst people who are so generous and enthusiastic about all United Way efforts…keep up the good work Molson Coors!

There’s so much in store here at the office, like next week’s pub night which will be just as good if not better than last night’s event!  Cheers to everyone here for playing their part, and making a huge difference in the lives of so many.  I can’t wait to attend the next event!

Check out some of the pics from our kick off:

Luke Schenn on the ice!

Myself, Tonia Hammer and Mike Coletta

L-R: Mellisa Hollingsworth, Jean Labonte, Billy Bridges, Brent McMurty, Sami-Jo Small, Brittany Webster, Jeff Batchelor, Tessa Bonhomme, Jennifer Botterill and (centre) Justin from the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club.

I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since the end of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games…I’m still having a bit of #van2010 withdrawal!  Luckily enough, to help us make it through the post-Olympic pains, 9 Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes visited the Molson Coors Toronto’s office on Tuesday afternoon to chat and have a beer with our employees.

@MolsonFerg chatting with the Olympians and Paralympians

Six of our Molson Canadian/Molson Export Fund a Champion athletes joined us along with 3 other Olympians to speak about their experiences at the Games and what’s in the future for them.

Later that evening, the athletes and some of the Molson Coors crew headed to the Leafs game.  Thank you to all the athletes…a truly unforgettable night.  And big thanks to the MLSE  folks for the jerseys, photos and intros, and of course the visit from Carlton the bear!

Have a great long weekend everyone. Cheers, @MolsonTonia

L-F: Steven Gottlieb, Executive Director Boundless; Danny Brown, 12for12k Founder; Adam Ouimet, Molson Coors Canada Sales Rep, Toronto; Bobby Smith, General Manager, Loose Moose; and JS Giguere.

Tuesday night’s hockey game at the ACC in Toronto was presentation night for February’s Molson Canadian Cup in partnership with the Team Up Foundation.  The winning hard-working Leafs player was….. JS Giguere (congrats!) and the charity recipient of a $1000 donation was a great organization called Boundless Adventures.

This Molson Canadian Cup a was little extra special due to a collaboration between Molson Coors, Boundless and the innovative awareness and fundraising organization, 12for12k.  12for12k uses the power and outreach of social media to spread the word about multiple charitable organizations.  From Twitter to Facebook, blogs to social media newsrooms and more, the 12for12k challenge helps supported charities connect with as wide an audience as possible.  So, that being said, 12for12k’s official charity for March is Boundless, and the $1000 donation on Tuesday night was a great kick-off to the month of fundraising.

Molson Coors Canada has partnered with Boundless for many years.  Boundless is dedicated to improving the lives of marginalized youth, adults and children at risk through a unique combination of counselling, social rehabilitation, alternative education and outdoor adventure.  Learn more

Cheers,

Tonia

P.S. If you were at the game/saw the game Tuesday eve – awesome eh? 3-3 in overtime and then a sweet goal from Kulemin for the win! Go Leafs Go

I was out of the office yesterday, but thanks to a couple tweets from people driving by the brewery here in Toronto, I was reminded that the Toronto Maple Leafs flag is flying high in the sky on the Molson Coors flag pole at Carlingview Drive to celebrate the opening of the 2009-2010 season.   Molson is a long standing sponsor and supporter and partner of the Leafs as well as all our Canadian major league hockey teams – we’re proud to support hockey in Canada at all levels in the community.

So fans, tonight is the season opener and sure enough, it’s the Leafs vs. the Habs.  I was just in Montreal a couple weekends ago and was lucky enough to go to the Bell Centre for my first ever Habs game…but, there’s no place like home

Have a great day everyone….game on.

Cheers, Tonia

Jason Blake has won the Molson Cup again, Way to go Jason!!

The charity that received the “On Ice Molson Cup Donation” at Tuesday nights TML game at the Air Canada Centre was Autism Speaks Canada.  Imagine the inability to communicate your  feelings, to voice your opinion or  tell someone you love them?  It is unimaginable, right?  Autism is a complex brain disorder which inhibits the ability to communicate and form relationships.

Autism Speaks is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to bringing hope to all who struggle with autism spectrum disorders.  The primary goals are to raise awareness and to fund biomedical research that will lead to better treatment and ultimately, a cure. To learn more or make a donation, please visit www.AutismSpeaks.org.

Thank you Suzanne and Scotty for opening my eyes and listening with my heart. Carole

Photo L-R: Jason Blake, Toronto Maple Leaf; Angie Camara, Director of Marketing, Ink Entertainment; Scott McCannell, Molson Sales Rep; Suzanne Lanthier, Executive Director, Autism Speaks Canada and her son Scotty.

Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting Brian Burke for a special appearance to chat exclusively with Molson Toronto’s head office employees over lunch. What a treat it was! “Burkeee” gave us an overview of the kind of team he wishes devoted Leafs’ fans to see on the ice sooner rather than later. 

One commonality with Molson’s own values in doing business is to give back to the community where you work and live. This is true for Burke and for all his players who wear or will wear the Leafs jersey from now on. He wants players to be involved and give back to the community. That’s not optional, nor is it negotiable as far as he’s concerned!

I am no Leafs fan, never was. I grew up in Montreal, but I must say I liked what I heard from the Leafs general manager and I think it is exciting for all Leafs fans who indisputably deserve a solid, more competitive and involved team both on and off the ice…With Burke at the helm, it seems like change is bound to happen for the Maple Leafs, their fans and the community. But from Burke’s own assessment, there is a lot more work to be done before we can see a real NHL playoff contender. 

Check out some of the conversations we had with Burke.

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(The community involvement part starts at 3min18sec in this 1st clip)

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Cheers!