When the Chicago Blackhawks lifted the Stanley Cup after Game 6 back in June, Andrew Shaw sported a deep gash on his right cheek as he celebrated on Boston's ice.

A shot by the Boston Bruins’ Shawn Thornton had connected with his face late in the first period, sending the 21-year-old collapsing to the ice in pain. Shaw returned the next period, playing 10 minutes overall and bleeding through his stitches intermittently during the game and during postgame interviews.

“When he went down, we were a little concerned, because he never goes down,” said Darlene Shaw, his mother, after the game. “But he came back.”

He came back because that’s what we expect from hockey players. Something else we’ve come to expect from them: a commitment to charity and a dedication to family.

So Shaw has decided to use his folk hero’s moment from Game 6 to raise money for a cause dear to him and his loved ones, in a rather unique way: Shaw is auctioning off his face stitches from the Blackhawks’ Cup-clinching victory to raise money for cancer research.

Beginning on Aug. 15, the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research will be auctioning off the stitches from Shaw’s cheek for 10 days on eBay.com.

Don’t worry, potential bidders: It’s not just a bag of used wound dressings. The stitches will be professionally framed with an autographed photo of Shaw, and the auction winner gets some other items in the lot as well.

The foundation said that 100 percent of the final bid price will be donated to breast cancer research, via Shaw’s wishes.

According to Justin Breen of DNAinfo.com, Andrew Shaw frequently donates to breast cancer research charities because his mother was diagnosed with the disease last October. (It’s since been removed, she said.)

Joel Alpert of AM Sports Marketing approached Shaw after Game 6 and asked if he’d keep the stitches for a charity auction.

"Andrew expressed an interest in raising money for breast cancer research, and The V Foundation promised the donation would be directed to breast cancer research grants," he told Breen.

The charity effort has its own Facebook page where more information about the auction can be found.

(And kudos for the organizers for resisting any and all “this auction will leave you in stitches” puns that, apparently, we’re too weak to repel.)

Andrew Shaw, auctioning off his face stitches for cancer research: Just another reminder why hockey players are the toughest of body and the kindest of heart.

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