He Shoots, Earth Scores

Early in his career, before he was traded to Boston, Andrew Ference got into the habit of checking the labels of everything, to ensure "I wasn't feeding my kid pesticides." And the more he looked into the chemicals floating around his house and the unnaturally engineered foodstuffs sitting in his fridge, the more interested he became in the environment outside his front door. That meant ditching his F-150 for a Prius and a bike in 2003, and encouraging his fellow hockey players to do likewise. Two years ago Ference and a few teammates started purchasing carbon credits to offset their heavy travel schedules. Now the Bruins defender has turned that effort into a successful league-wide program: More than 70 percent of NHL players are carbon-neutral.

The native Canadian has also influenced Boston in other ways. When he came to the Bruins in February 2007, there was nary a recycling bin to be found in the Garden. Today there's one in every locker room and under every desk. Teammates Chuck Kobasew and Zdeno Chara have followed his lead and bike to practice and games. His voice plays on a loop in the subways, urging people to take the MBTA. "I get mixed up with everything," Ference says. "It just doesn't make any sense not to." With the season in full swing this month, here's something else we hope Ference can recycle: the B's tradition of winning Lord Stanley's Cup.