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Justin Bieber, NHL great Jeremy Roenick duke it out during hockey fundraiser for L.A. fire relief

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LOS ANGELES — Justin Bieber and Steve Carell laced up their skates along with Hockey Hall of Famers Rob Blake, Mark Messier, Cammi Granato and Jeremy Roenick on Sunday afternoon to support relief funds from the Los Angeles fires.

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The Los Angeles Kings and NHL held “Skate for L.A. Strong” at Crypto.com Arena to benefit recovery efforts from the devastating wildfires in southern California. The Palisades Fire was the most destructive in Los Angeles’ history.

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“We’re looking to have a good time and show when we come together, good things happen,” Bieber said.

The four-team exhibition tournament was the brainchild of Hockey Hall of Famer and Kings president Luc Robitaille.

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“We’ve all been touched by what happened last month. We all have friends, families or different (people) that have been impacted, so for us to be able to make a difference and to do something, we’re gonna raise as much as possible and make a difference,” Robitaille said.

The team coached by actors Vince Vaughn and Cobie Smulders won both of its games to take the exhibition tournament.

Roenick had two goals on the day and then playfully dropped the gloves with Bieber during one of the games.

“This was an amazing celebration of hockey and first responders. It was a lot of fun, seeing everyone that showed up and some of the L.A. firefighters playing was a good feeling,” Roenick said.

Roenick and Bieber got the crowd fired up with their little bit of extra-curricular activity.

The popstar and the NHL Hall of Famer dropped the gloves for a spirited tussle that had fans going wild.

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During their light-hearted exchange, the much-smaller Bieber appeared to get the best of the nine-time all-star, pulling Roenick’s jersey over his head and landing a couple of cheeky body shots before two other players stepped in to “break it up.”

Bieber waved his arms to the crowd as he skated off the ice to much applause.

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The other teams were coached by Will Ferrell and Snoop Dogg; Danny DeVito and Al Michaels; and Hannah Stocking and Andrew Whitworth.

“When the Kings asked me to do this, I was like, ‘Absolutely.’ I don’t care if I’d never thrown on a pair of skates before, this is where I want to be,” said actor Skylar Astin. “I’m a resident of Malibu, so I really have the firefighters to thank for even containing it as much as they were able to. I even took PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) over here for the first time, and it was the first time I actually saw all the destruction first-hand and it was really chilling. It’s going to be a while for us to really build back properly, but L.A. is a resilient community, and I think we’ll get it done.”

Besides the game being shown locally on television in Los Angeles, it aired nationally on ESPN2. Instead of tickets being sold, they were distributed to first responders and those who have been displaced by the fires.

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