{"id":115247,"date":"2026-02-16T14:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T14:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/115247\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T14:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T14:35:10","slug":"inaugural-battle-of-the-badges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/115247\/","title":{"rendered":"Inaugural Battle of the Badges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Firefighters and police officers from Wilkes-Barre and Scranton battled for a trophy and bragging rights Saturday in the inaugural Battle of the Badges first responders hockey game at Mohegan Arena in Wilkes-Barre Twp.<\/p>\n

Scranton won 11-7.<\/p>\n

Officials from Wilkes-Barre, including Mayor George C. Brown, Police Chief Mike Boyle and Fire Chief Jay Delaney, along with Scranton Fire Chief John Judge participated in the puck drop..<\/p>\n

Part of the ticket sale proceeds benefitted Patriots Cove, a nonprofit in northeastern Pennsylvania founded by a military veteran to empower other injured and ill veterans, first responders and their caregivers to heal and adapt to life after service.<\/p>\n

\"Wilkes-Barre\u2019s<\/p>\n

Wilkes-Barre\u2019s Brian Mock (3) shoots against Scranton goalkeeper Jim Scott as Scranton\u2019s Rob Hegedus defends during the inaugural First Responders Battle of the Badges hockey match at Mohegan Arena in Wilkes-Barre Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. BILL TARUTIS \/ CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER\n<\/p>\n

\"First<\/p>\n

First responders from Wilkes-Barre and Scranton serve as the honor guard for the national anthem during the inaugural Battle of the Badges hockey match at Mohegan Arena in Wilkes-Barre Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. BILL TARUTIS \/ CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER\n<\/p>\n

\"Scranton\u2019s<\/p>\n

Scranton\u2019s Rob Hegedus, left, and Wilkes-Barre\u2019s Kevin Mass battle for the puck during the inaugural First Responders Battle of the Badges hockey match at Mohegan Arena in Wilkes-Barre Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. BILL TARUTIS \/ CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER\n<\/p>\n

\"Scranton\u2019s<\/p>\n

Scranton\u2019s Jamie Zaleski shoots the puck against Wilkes-Barre goalkeeper Walter Letanski during the inaugural First Responders Battle of the Badges hockey match at Mohegan Arena in Wilkes-Barre Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. BILL TARUTIS \/ CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The trophy for the inaugural Wilkes-Barre vs. Scranton First Responders Battle of the Badges hockey match is on display at a raffle table at Mohegan Arena in Wilkes-Barre Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. BILL TARUTIS \/ CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER\n<\/p>\n

\"Wilkes-Barre<\/p>\n

Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown, center, leads the ceremonial puck drop with Scranton Fire Chief John Judge, back left, Wilkes-Barre Police Chief Mike Boyle, and Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney as Scranton player Mark Prebish, left, and Wilkes-Barre player Rich Machey wait during the inaugural Battle of the Badges hockey match at Mohegan Arena in Wilkes-Barre Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. BILL TARUTIS \/ CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER\n<\/p>\n

\"Wilkes-Barre\u2019s<\/p>\n

Wilkes-Barre\u2019s Brian Ulrich (11) brings the puck down the ice against Scranton during the inaugural First Responders Battle of the Badges hockey match at Mohegan Arena in Wilkes-Barre Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. BILL TARUTIS \/ CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER\n<\/p>\n

\"Scranton<\/p>\n

Scranton goalkeeper Jim Scott (40) dives for the puck after a shot by Wilkes-Barre\u2019s Rich Machey (46) during the inaugural First Responders Battle of the Badges hockey match at Mohegan Arena in Wilkes-Barre Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. BILL TARUTIS \/ CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 8<\/p>\n

Wilkes-Barre\u2019s Brian Mock (3) shoots against Scranton goalkeeper Jim Scott as Scranton\u2019s Rob Hegedus defends during the inaugural First Responders Battle of the Badges hockey match at Mohegan Arena in Wilkes-Barre Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. BILL TARUTIS \/ CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Firefighters and police officers from Wilkes-Barre and Scranton battled for a trophy and bragging rights Saturday in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[202,201,182,803,139,28,178,180,179,802,2685,11015],"class_list":["post-115247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-luzerne-county","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-cvc","tag-wilkes-barre","tag-wilkes-barre-township"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}