Still a true star of British ice hockey - at FIFTY SEVEN years old

There were times the club tried to lure the prolific forward who scored goals for fun.

Sadly for Sheffield, it was Cardiff Devils who got the best out of the Canadian, who only retired from the game six years ago, after a final spell at Basingstoke Bison.

But Moria will be on Sheffield ice next weekend - a special character in a very special tournament.

He will be on one of eight teams competing in UK Charity Allstars weekend, the 11th such event. The tournament has made more than £500,000 for charities since 2008.

And the Sheffield event has it all to do to match last year’s return - an astonishing £136,000 (the first year raised a modest £3,000.)

Committee member Geraint Walters said: “With one week to go, it’s a huge task to beat that. Last year we had a Legends game on the Friday night in Cardiff including Moria, Ian Cooper, Nicky Chinn, Jake Morissette, Brian Waghorn and Stevie Lyle.

“That brought a lot of money in with ticket sales and the shirt auction. We’ve raised £86,000 so far (this year) and hope to hit £100,000 before the end of the event.

“Players have already raised funds via their own events: we’ve had Inline tournaments, a Race across India in a Rickshaw, quiz nights etc, and have asked the public via social media support.”

Sheffield’s edition is an eight team tournament, 17 players on each side raising funds for a specific charity.

It involves recreational players together from across the UK and some former professionals like Moria, whose teams also numbered Nottingham Panthers, Fife Flyers, London Racers and Milton Keynes Lightning.

This year’s charities are: Sheffield’s Children Hospital, Mind, Breast Cancer Care, Dreams Come True, Prostate Cancer UK, British Heart Foundation, Blue Cross, and Help For Heroes.

The iceSheffield action takes place between noon-8pm, Saturday and Sunday. Entry is £3 for kids and £5 for adults across the weekend. Money raised split between the charities.

The Allstars weekend was setup by Sheffield’s David Grant and Cardiff’s Gareth Hubback in 2008.

*Steelers official David Simms looks back fondly at Moria’s time facing his own club.

“When I managed the team Moria was a player we would have signed every year.

“He was part of the Cardiff set-up back then, well looked after and wasn’t for moving. His partnership with Doug McEwan was legendary.

“Any team would have loved Mo. One of the true greats of his time. A superb player, great leader and thoroughly decent man.”