Blues' O'Reilly grosses out fourth graders with fake tooth reveal

If you ask an NHL player about his missing teeth, you better be prepared for the answer.

Judging by the gasps and screams from Stephanie Vandeford's fourth grade class at Renfro Elementary School in Collinsville, Illinois during a virtual visit from St. Louis Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly, that is a lesson learned.
Vandeford has been a Blues season ticket holder for 10 seasons and her husband nominated her to be one of a select few frontline workers to attend a game at Enterprise Center, which led to her being chosen for a video visit from O'Reilly.
During his appearance, O'Reilly tested the students' math skills, talked about hockey and opened the floor for questions.
When one student asked how many teeth he was missing, O'Reilly flipped his fake tooth out, which drew a stunned (and very funny) reaction from the class.

O'Reilly approached the Blues community relations staff to ask if the players could do these types of visits when they were in their hotels on the road since COVID-19 protocols won't allow them to go to schools in person when they are home in St. Louis. This was the first of such visits and more are expected.
"It doesn't surprise me at all that Ryan would give us his time to meet with fourth graders and talk to them," Vandeford
told the Blues website
. "Especially in a year that has been really hard for kids, and nothing seems normal. They're not socializing and communicating the way they normally would, they're not having field trips. Ryan did a great job talking to the kids, understanding what they want to see and hear.
"It meant everything. The kids were so excited to have something to look forward to like that, especially in a pandemic when we've been back and forth from in-person, to remote learning, to hybrid. It was so special."