Arber Xhekaj: hockey player and ambassador

MONTREAL -- Arber Xhekaj's heart is as big as his build.

Making a difference in the community has always been an important value for the Montreal Canadiens. Every year, players participate in a variety of events and activities to help young people and families from disadvantaged backgrounds, but sometimes the guys also feel the pull to help out on their own outside the organization.

That's what Arber Xhekaj did when he attended a recent event for The Angel Project. The organization, created by Lisette Kingo in 2008, helps people in different kinds of precarious situations like patients who have been abandoned by their family or by society, who spend decades in complex care units in hospitals, or others who have been forced to try to make it on their own without the proper tools or financial means.

"A real person with a big heart, whose values are in the right place."

Those are the words used to describe Xhekaj by Kingo.

The 22-year-old defenseman showed up at a fundraiser organized by a musical band made up of doctors from the organization to offer his jersey for auction.

"At the start, I thought he was just going to send us the jersey, but he arrived with his parents and took the time to speak with everyone," Kingo recounted in a phone interview.

What's more, the man who won the jersey with a $500 bid wrote a letter to the organization to thank them for the event and tell them how much he enjoyed meeting and chatting with Xhekaj.

The rough and tumble rearguard, known for his punishing bodychecks and mammoth strength, seems to have a softer and more philanthropic persona off the ice.

So much so that Xhekaj officially became an ambassador for The Angel Project. A longtime supporter of the organization, he can now help give them more visibility because of his status as an NHL player.

"He was always supportive for many years, but he came up and said, 'I want to do more. Let me help.' That was what took me back, because not a lot of people do that," admitted Kingo. "Most people, we have to ask, but he came and asked me. He said, 'I had no idea after hearing these stories; we have to do something. Let me help. I want to be an ambassador.'"

Kingo is no stranger to the obstacles faced by the organization's patients. The event was held to help offer a hospital bed to a mother in palliative care who will return home to spend the final moments of her life at home with her son; to widen the doorways in a house for a six-year-old girl who's paralyzed in her lower body and who can't get into her bathroom or bedroom; and to help a young paralyzed man who just woke up from an 18-month coma and whose parents have lost everything taking care of him.

Big hearts are a genetic trait in the Kingo family. Mikael, Lisette's son, founded the Goalie Giveaway program, which helps young hockey players - goalies, more specifically - coming from difficult family situations by giving them money and equipment so they can keep playing the sport they love. The young netminders also benefit from valuable advice from the likes of NHL players or Olympic athletes, who help them improve their game.

Five years ago, Xhekaj and his mom, Simona, drove several hours to the Kingo home just to buy some shorts because the proceeds would be going to help these young athletes.

"I have a photo of him holding the shorts in our living room," recalled Kingo.

She hopes Xhekaj can join them later in the summer to meet the next young athlete to be awarded support and new equipment from the organization.

To learn more about The Angel Project or to make a donation, visit theangelproject.ca.