Zadorov Family Delivers Thanksgiving Pies, ‘Important For Us to be Here’

BOSTON –– Nikita Zadorov held shopping bags filled with pies as he and his family walked into the Pine Street Inn.

It had been less than 12 hours since the final buzzer in the Bruins’ 3-1 win against the Islanders in New York, and the defenseman was on the ground in Boston, giving back to the community during Thursday’s Thanksgiving deliveries.

“People cheer for us here; they expect us to give everything in this city on a nightly basis, on and off the ice,” Zadorov said. “So I think it is important for us to be here as well and support them in hard times.”

Zadorov handily led all the Bruins with 27:38 of ice time on Wednesday at UBS Arena, but rest seemed unimportant compared to helping those in need. Zadorov brought his entire family – wife Aleksandra, daughters Stephanie and Sophie, and son Zlatan – to drop off pies and package meals.

“Kids have to see when things are going bad; there is always light at the end of the tunnel,” Zadorov said. “I think it is a good learning point for them to see how grateful they should be for their lives and to have food on the table.”

The morning began at St. Francis House, the largest day shelter for the homeless in New England, which welcomes up to 500 individuals each day. The Zadorovs then went to Pine Street Inn. They were preparing to serve around 2,000 Thanksgiving meals.

​“That’s 120 turkeys, 1,000 pounds of mashed potatoes, 140 pounds of stuffing and 250 pounds of cranberry sauce,” said Lyndia Downie, who is the executive director of Pine Street Inn. “It is where our volunteers come in, and we are so grateful to them.”

Pine Street Inn provides street outreach, emergency shelter, supportive housing, job training and connections to employment. The non-profit organization manages 40 supportive housing locations for 1,200 people in Greater Boston.

Zadorov was one of the local figures, along with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who filled 150 outreach bags with turkey sandwiches, fruit cups, cookies, chips and hand warmers. It was the 16th consecutive season that a Bruins player has participated in this tradition.

“It’s an incredible organization. The Pine Street Inn and so many in Boston are really not just helping to stabilize and do great work here in our city; they are the national models for how to end homelessness,” Wu said. “We are working every day to be a city where every single person has a home, and everyone has somewhere warm, safe and surrounded by community and family.”

Zadorov wants his impact to go far beyond his heavy hits and explosive shot. Part of wearing the Black & Gold is showing up for Boston, not just on the ice, and the players have taken that to heart.​

“When I came last year to this city, to this organization, it was clearly the message in here – there is a lot of community work getting done on a daily basis,” Zadorov said. “It’s every guy chipping into it. It really is what our identity is of the Boston Bruins. I think it’s really important for us to be here to support that.”

With all the bags packed and pies delivered, the Zadorov family headed home to prepare their own Thanksgiving meal. They won’t be having turkey, Zadorov said. Instead, it will be Beef Wellington. Bruins teammate Marat Khusnutdinov will be in attendance to test out Zadorov’s cooking skills.

“I haven’t started yet, but my wife prepared all of the ingredients,” Zadorov said. “I just need to be dialed in tonight.”

Before the Bruins return to game action on Friday at TD Garden against the New York Rangers, Zadorov is taking a moment to reflect on and enjoy the time with family and friends.

“I am thankful for my family first of all. I have three beautiful kids, I have a beautiful wife. They have been my supporters, my rock where I can lay on every night,” Zadorov said. “I am thankful for the team I am playing for, for the city where I am living, to have food on the table tonight. There’s a lot of different things, for sure.”