Katie Maximick

By KATIE MAXIMICK

(Harrison Mooney - the Canucks Scrabble master. Mooney holds his trophy next to a defeated Tanner Glass at Canuck Place Children's Hospice, Feb. 23, 2011. Photo credit: Jeff Vinnick/Vancouver Canucks.)

The seed that sprung a Scrabble match

“Fantastic. Absolutely surreal. Unlike anything else I’ve been a part of.”

That's how blogger Harrison Mooney sums up his Scrabble battle with Vancouver Canucks forward Tanner Glass that took place on Feb. 23.

The always-grinning writer for the popular blog site called Pass It To Bulis never thought the match would happen, let alone that he would help raise $9,000 for charity.

“I decided to challenge Tanner Glass to a game of Scrabble," Mooney said. "I figured he’d say no, or just never respond because who reads our blog? [ he laughs]. But a week later a reader named Annie made some shirts. The shirts were cool and we put them up on the blog."

Despite the courtship, Glass wasn't swooning from Mooney's advances right away.

"I guess he told us, ‘No, I won't do it,’ then [his sister] convinced him that we could sell the shirts for charity and it could be a really good event, so he said yes.”

The epic Scrabble Battle took place at Canuck Place Children's Hospice, a fitting location since all proceeds from the charity match went to the Canucks for Kids Fund.

Many kids surrounded the Scrabble table, pitching in to help Glass with possible solutions whenever the big fourth liner struggled with his letters.

"Initially I just thought it would be kind of a fun thing. We’re always looking for different and original things we can do involving the Canucks on Pass It to Bulis," Mooney said. "That was the plan originally, then once the charity angle came into it, it was just a way better idea."

"It wasn’t even so much that I started it as I felt privileged to be involved.”

(Mooney gives Glass a cheeky smile from across the Scrabble board as they wait to make their first plays. Photo credit: Jeff Vinnick/Vancouver Canucks.)

The role of social media in the Scrabble Battle's success

Like Richard Loat's Five Hole for Food inception, Mooney's charity event would not have been possible without social media. Mooney originally heard Glass gloating about his Scrabble skills on Team 1040 radio when the blogger decided to take it to his website to challenge Glass to a match on Nov. 22, 2010.

Canucks fans on Twitter went wild with the idea, calling out the official Vancouver Canucks account to pass the message to Glass and get him to accept the challenge.

For weeks a popular Canucks hashtag was #ScrabbleMeTanner.

"It played a huge part," Mooney said about social media. "It’s hard to get in to talk to any of the players, so for us all we did was put it out there on the internet and somebody else jumps on, then more people jump on. Before we know it we’re Tweeting with Tanner Glass’ sister. From there it just sort of took off."

It was through social media that the Canucks caught wind of Mooney's challenge and from it raised significant donations for the Canucks for Kids Fund.

Bloggers are often snubbed in the world of media, but Mooney's use of social media (as well as some of his delightful cockiness) got the right kind of attention and has ultimately given some credibility to his kind.

Who else can say they played Scrabble against a Vancouver Canuck, all in the name of charity?

No local sports reporters are coming to mind.

"I think personally this is one of those things where [the Canucks] were able to actually see how much power social media can have,” said Mooney. "We’re looking forward to doing the same thing again next year with the same means – Twitter, the blog, emailing back and forth. I think there’s a lot of power to generate things that way.”

(Mooney secures his victory with a handshake. Photo credit: Jeff Vinnick/Vancouver Canucks)

The Canucks Scrabble Battle: an annual event?

Predictions for next year are bright as Mooney looks forward to defending his title as Scrabble master.

He even has his sights set on other players.

“There were a lot of Canucks who were chirping Tanner and saying that they were better than him at Scrabble. I heard Jannik Hansen say that Tanner Glass was third or fourth best, and Daniel Sedin said that he was the best," Mooney said.

"If that's the case then there are a lot of Canucks who are gonna need to step up and show the cojones that Tanner showed.”

If it's all for charity, let's hope the rest of the Canucks read Mooney's last sentence and say, "Scrabble challenge accepted."