The event benefits the HT40 Foundation in memory of Hayden Thorsen, a 16-year-old youth hockey player from Darien, Connecticut, who died by suicide on May 21, 2022. The overt message of the event is “Reach Out. Check in. Make Contact.”
“We had this idea for an anthem film, and we asked our athlete partners if they were up for being a part of it as they arrived in town the week prior to our Showcase event,” said Rob Thorsen, Hayden’s father and founder of HT40 and the Shoulder Check. “Unlike a lot of commercial shoots, there were no rehearsals or prep days. We had to hit the ground running.
“The morning of our event, a dozen of the guys showed up and volunteered to take a chance with us and sing a bar or two. In doing so, they each demonstrated the very vulnerability our program is trying to encourage. The final film is amazingly powerful to experience.”
A surprise twist to begin the third Shoulder Check proved mighty when operatic baritone John Brancy, the national anthem for New York Rangers home games, performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” before leading the audience into a rendition of “Lean on Me” that unveiled the 1972 Bill Withers classic as the new anthem of the Shoulder Check Showcase.
“There’s a big paradigm shift,” Kreider said that night. “A big change in people’s comfort level when it comes to talking about these things.”
