↵↵Several high-profile NHL stars, including Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith (above) of the Blackhawks, attended a gala thrown by Vanity Fair magazine in New York on Tuesday night:
↵↵Vanity Fair editor and native Ottawan Graydon Carter hosted a cocktail party for the NHL and 20 of its biggest stars at his restaurant, Monkey Bar, on 54th Street between Madison and Park Avenues. Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, among others, shared stories and snapped photos over cocktails and appetizers with notables like designer Vera Wang, actor Tom Cavanagh, director Jason Reitman and gold-medal winning figure skater Evan Lysacek.↵↵
And why hockey players? Well, Carter, as a Canadian, grew up a hockey fan, says his daughter thinks the players are "cute", and:
↵↵"We don't do NBA stories and we don't really do baseball stories," Carter added. "The one professional sport we've done more photographs of is hockey. You can't cover it because it's covered like crazy in the papers the next day, but hockey players are more attractive than football or basketball players because they're normal size. The tallest guy here is 6-3 or 6-5 probably, and everybody lies about their height."↵↵
The Deep Dish hopes the players had fun at the party... but also imagines they can't wait for the season to begin. Incidentally, that's Duncan Keith's fiancee next to him... and Patrick Kane's mom at the right.