Friday at noon, the Detroit-based clothing brand KiwiClo will be dropping a collection in collaboration with two beloved Red Wing defensemen, one past and one present.  The proceeds from the event will benefit the Vladimir Konstantinov Special Needs Trust and Jake Walman's charitable donation to the Boys and Girls Club of Detroit.  The brand reached out to Walman about the possibility of a collaboration, and sensing the chance to unite two worthy causes, he was quick to accept.

For Walman, the two causes are personal and both meant to solidify his connection to Detroit—one supporting a beloved sporting icon and the other the city's children themselves.

As Red Wings fans well know, Konstantinov suffered a line-changing injury change six days after winning the 1997 Stanley Cup when a limousine carrying him home from a charity golf outing crashed into a tree on Woodward Avenue, ending his hockey career and leaving him in a wheelchair while also limiting his capacity for speech.  The trust helps cover his various medical expenses.  

Today, Konstantinov makes semi-regular appearances at Little Caesars Arena, and without fail, when he appears on the Jumbotron, he receives a massive ovation from the crowd and a standing salute from the Detroit bench.  In a promotional video for the drop, Konstantinov stick-handles and shoots with Walman at a local outdoor rink.

"We did a cool photoshoot on a day off a couple weeks ago," Walman told The Hockey News after Monday's practice.  "I was able to hang out with him, feed him the puck a couple times.  I've never really had a conversation with him, but I think it was really cool that I was able to be a part of that."

"I didn't really know what to expect because I'd never had a conversation with him," he continued.  "I'm impressed by the way he's with it.  He understands everything, even though it's not necessarily a full conversation.  He sees everything that goes on, knows everything, and like you saw [in the video], he's still got it.  It was a really cool experience for me.  

"I took a picture of him wearing my shirt, and I thought that was really cool.  It's amazing how the fans hold him in that high regard, and obviously he did so much for the city.  He respects the city so much, loves hockey, loves the Red Wings.  It was a huge honor for me even just to be a part of that."  Walman was also pleased to report that Konstantinov was impressed with the designs on the new merch.

Meanwhile, in addition to supporting Konstantinov's trust, this venture with KiwiClo will also benefit a different a different cause Walman wants to champion in the Boys and Girls of Detroit. 

"I visited them my first full year," he explained.  "And I just thought that I've connected myself to the community before, but I really wanna give back to Detroit, and I feel like that's exactly right up my alley.  Kids that don't really have the same opportunities as us, whether it's for an hour or two to get them out of their comfort zone or bring them into something they've never had a chance to do—play hockey or play video games with me or my friends.  I think that's what it's all about."

For Walman, this collaboration with Konstantinov and KiwiClo will represent the next step in a larger charitable initiative, aimed at emulating the connection Konstantinov clearly enjoys with the city of Detroit.

"I've always said I'd do myself a disservice if I didn't do something like that and give back," Walman said. "That's almost half the reason I enjoy playing is I can relate to kids and kids can look up to me...It's fun for me. I like it."

There will be another t-shirt release before the end of the season and then Walman wants to move onto something bigger: "I'm doing another one-off shirt for the Boys and Girls Club at a game...It'll be really small but just to kinda kick-start it, I'll release something whether it's the end of the year or in the summer.  It'll be a full connection to that group, whether it's bringing them to games or something like that once a month."

The idea of doing some kind of prolonged collaboration with kids in the community goes back to Walman's own days as a kid going to NHL games, and he's intent on making certain that his impact on Detroit extends beyond the ice itself.  The forthcoming collaboration with KiwiClo will just be the start.

"I've always wanted to it," Walman told THN.  "When I was going to games when I was younger, on the Jumbotron, they'll always have a player or two on every team that's like 'welcoming Mats Sundin's club' or whatever.  Something like that...To have a group of kids or a group of friends that come to a game every month or something, that'd be really cool for me."

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