There are more important things in life than what happens on a sheet of ice and yesterday, the Montreal Canadiens players were reminded of that as they visited hospitalized kids, just as they do each year around the Holidays.
As has been the case for years, the Montreal Canadiens held their annual Christmas visit to hospitalized children on Wednesday. It’s great to see that, even with a highly compressed schedule, the organization still managed to keep the visit as close to Christmas as possible. The coaching staff elected to make the practice optional, and the focus was clearly on the most important task at hand: bringing joy to families going through a challenging time.
Split into groups of four, the teams' players met children at CHU Ste-Justine, the Children’s Hospital, and Shriners Hospital for Children. Even the injured players made the trip, including Alex Newhook, who was using a scooter for his broken leg. Newcomer Alexandre Texier, Kaiden Guhle, Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov formed a group. Nick Suzuki, Jakub Dobes, Zachary Bolduc, and Josh Anderson, another group; Juraj Slafkovsky, Jacob Fowler, Joe Veleno, and Kirby Dach, a third group; and Mike Matheson, Jake Evans, Jared Davidson, and Adam Engstrom made the rounds together.
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As for sniper Cole Caufield, he was matched with defenseman Alex Carrier and rookie Oliver Kapanen. Carrier brought smiles to many people’s faces by having the kids sign his jersey as he made the rounds. Noah Dobson, Brendan Gallagher, and Jayden Struble were matched up for the day.
Looking at the pictures of the event, it was mission accomplished for the Canadiens: the kids are all smiles as they not only meet the players but also receive gifts and autographed cards. This is the kind of day that reminds everyone that even though hockey is a big, significant business, there are more important things in life than what happens on a sheet of ice. Bringing smiles to children fighting various illnesses is as meaningful a deed as one can make, and it’s just one of the traditions that make this organization so important to the city of Montreal.
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