Islanders Spread Cheer at Holiday Hospital Visits

Phinehas Cullen is in a place no child wants to be around the holidays. Same goes for his parents.
Phinehas - nicknamed Phin - is in the hospital because of a kidney issue and will likely have to come back for surgery in January. It's a stressful time under normal circumstances, but somehow seems worse around the holidays.
If there were a bright spot in all this, it was Thursday, when a group of New York Islanders came to visit the play room at Cohen Children's Medical Center in New Hyde Park. Phinehas beat Johnny Boychuk in Connect 4 and stepped in the ring with Rock'em, Sock'em Robots vs Anders Lee. Afterwards, he got to pick out a present from a pile of toys the Islanders had brought with them.

"This makes his day. He was so excited for this," Brandt Cullen, Phinehas' father, said. "It made it less stressful for him here. It made it less stressful for us. It makes it much easier and takes away from what you're here for. It's a moment when you can actually just watch him be a kid and have a good time."

The Islanders held their annual holiday hospital visits on Thursday, as they dispersed to local hospitals across Long Island and New York. They were on hand to deliver gifts to kids in a position similar to Phinehas, looking to brighten the holidays for some of the families who need it most.
"It's fun to just interact with them and even though they might not be having a great day, even if you get a smile it's worth it to come and visit and hand out presents," Boychuk said. "Just to make a little bit of difference means a lot."
That little difference comes in many shapes and sizes. For the older kids, it's snagging a picture with an Islander. For the infants, the Islanders being there is just as much for the parents as it is for the kids. Boychuk and Josh Bailey - who went room to room as a team - are both parents themselves and they sympathize.

"You definitely gain more of an appreciation when you become a parent," Bailey said. "It's tough for the kids first and foremost, but for the parents especially it's not easy. I'm sure it feels a little helpless at times, but it's about staying strong and we're trying to help deliver that message as well."
The Islanders wives and girlfriends picked out the gifts 10 days prior, organizing them by age group, so the team was well-armed with everything from Lego sets to Lol Dolls to gift cards. All they wanted in return was to put a couple of smiles on some kids faces and help brighten up the holiday season.
"It's extremely special for us to be able to come in and have this kind of opportunity to see these kids," Lee said. "All these kids are battling every day and the courage they show and how brave they are. It's special and it's inspiring and that's why these days are so great."

Hospital Breakdown:
Steven and Alexandra Cohen's Children's Medical Center, New Hyde Park, NY 11040
Players: Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Anders Lee & Matt Martin
NYU Winthrop University Hospital, Mineola, NY 11501
Players: Mathew Barzal, Cal Clutterbuck, Jordan Eberle & Nick Leddy
Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
Players: Adam Pelech & Luca Sbisa
Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY
Players: Ross Johnston & Scott Mayfield
Stony Brook Children's Hospital, Stony Brook, NY
Players: Anthony Beauvillier & Tom Kuhnhackl
St. Mary's Childrens Hospital, Bayside NY
Players: Thomas Greiss & Thomas Hickey
Good Samaritan HospitalWest Islip, NY
Players: Robin Lehner, Valtteri Filppula & Ryan Pulock
Nassau University Medical Center, East Meadow, NY
Players: Casey Cizikas, Leo Komarov & Brock Nelson