Lake Tahoe NHL Outdoors honors front-line workers

Daryl Braga appreciated that he was among a fortunate few standing for all the front-line workers from the Lake Tahoe area during the Opening Ceremony presented by Navy Federal Credit Union before the Vegas Golden Knights took the ice against the Colorado Avalanche in the Bridgestone NHL Outdoors Saturday at Edgewood Tahoe Resort in Stateline, Nevada.

Braga, a charge nurse and lead registered nurse in the emergency department at Barton Memorial Hospital in South Lake Tahoe, California, was joined by Miranda Miller, OTR, an activities director at the Skilled Nursing Facility at Barton Memorial Hospital, and Dusty R. Gooch, a firefighter and paramedic for the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District, in being acknowledged on the ice for their contributions during the coronavirus pandemic.
Gooch's daughter, Aurora C. Gooch, a collection specialist for a COVID-19 testing company, performed the national anthem.
"I feel very honored to be recognized and to be representing so many other people: fire, police, EMS, doctors, nurses, even the cleaning crew and everybody that's been working during this time," Braga said. "It takes all of us to do it, so it's definitely an honor."
The NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe, which also included the Boston Bruins playing the Philadelphia Flyers in the Honda NHL Outdoors Sunday, puts a spotlight on the town that has been Braga's home since he moved from Durango, Colorado, almost eight years ago. Braga, Miller, the Gooches and many others have put in countless hours over the past year helping to fight COVID-19 in their tight-knit community.
Earlier in the pandemic, their neighbors would express their gratitude by going outside each night at 8 p.m. and howling like coyotes. Some also sent thank-you cards and notes that were displayed in hospital windows and ambulance bay doors.

"In the beginning, being a front-line and essential worker was nerve-wracking," Braga said. "To say the least, it was very stressful in the beginning, but we got a lot of support from the community. … Having that support and people recognizing us for a job that we signed up for, but we had no idea we were going to be in a pandemic, it helps you go to work every day."
The ceremony Saturday was one of many ways the NHL and its teams are honoring front-line workers this season.
The Flyers host a local front-line worker and up to four other members of their household at each home game through their Frontline Families program. The family sits on a platform constructed behind Philadelphia's bench; because of the pandemic, they have been the only fans permitted at Wells Fargo Center this season.

Ala Stanford, a pediatric surgeon, was selected to attend the Flyers game against the New York Rangers on Thursday for founding the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium (BDCC). Assisted by a staff that started with four people and has grown to about 100, Stanford helped build a mobile COVID-19 testing and vaccination operation to aid the underserved population in Philadelphia.
Stanford spent Thursday at a vaccination site at The Liacouras Center at Temple University before picking up her husband, Byron and sons, Ellison, Langston and Robeson and heading to Wells Fargo Center.
"So many of us go to sports for our escape," Stanford said. "So to be recognized, not being on the field so to speak, but still contributing to everybody getting to better days, it was really nice. Really, really nice. And the fact that I get to share it with my family means more than anything because they have really had to share me with the world right now."
The Montreal Canadiens got front-line workers involved in their home opener against the Calgary Flames on Jan. 28 by having some announce the name of each player virtually on Bell Centre's center-ice video screen as he skated out during the pregame introductions. Before the season, Bruins forward David Pastrnak donated the Honda CR-V Hybrid he won for being voted MVP of the 2020 Honda NHL All-Star Game to Tufts Medical Center nurse Kaitlin Hagstrom.
The Dallas Stars hosted a Healthcare Workers Night when they played the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 9 that included a video highlighting Stars fans working on the front lines. Prior to each game, the New Jersey Devils post a tweet announcing their Protecting Jersey starting goalie and a local Healthcare Hero.
The Los Angeles Kings have similarly been using their Hero of the Game program to pay tribute to front-line workers in addition to military personnel and their families.
The Washington Capitals honor a Blue Star of the Game prior to select home games when they wear their blue third jerseys. Vicki White, a respiratory nurse at MedStar Harbor Hospital in Baltimore, was Washington's first Blue Star of the Game when it faced Philadelphia at Capital One Arena on Feb. 7.

White received a Capitals third jersey and was an honorary member of their starting lineup. In addition, a video chronicling White's efforts during the pandemic was played on the center-ice video scoreboard and on NBC's telecast prior to the singing of the national anthem.
But White's favorite moment was being surprised with the news she'd been selected by Capitals forward Tom Wilson during a Zoom call the previous week.
"It was probably the best experience I've had in a long time," White said. "It's just indescribable. I was so excited. My daughter will tell you she could hear me the living room and I was back in my office. She said, 'Ma, I heard you and you were just grinning and grinning.'" She said, 'I can hear you grin.'"
Brandi McFarland, a pharmacist from Winchester, Virginia, was selected as the Blue Star of the Game when the Capitals hosted the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. The idea is to celebrate those who have given so much to help others during the past year and use hockey as an enjoyable distraction during stressful times.
Braga, who grew up in Connecticut following the Hartford Whalers and started rooting for the Avalanche when he lived in Colorado, said he believes the games in Lake Tahoe can do that. Though fans aren't permitted to attend, many across North America were watching on television.
"To watch a game is a very, for lack of a better word, American thing to do, a very sustaining thing to do," Braga said. "And to have something that anchors you to some kind of normalcy is just a really comforting thing. To watch a game (and) zone out, it kind of makes you forget for a little bit."