A Festive Visit From the Penguins

Evgeni Malkin has been involved with the Ronald McDonald House, which provides families who travel for their children's medical care a place to call home, for a few seasons now.

He donates $710 per each of his regular-season points as part of his ‘I’m Score for Kids’ initiative. The Penguins superstar stopped by at the end of last season to personally deliver the check, and returned this morning to gift Joie Baby products to the children and their parents.

Malkin then made the short walk over to UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh for the team’s annual visit, a tradition dating back decades in which the players spread holiday cheer to families facing difficult times.

“It’s very important for everybody to be here today,” Malkin said. “We’re lucky to play hockey. It's like, you see how strong people are. I’m glad to work with the Ronald McDonald House. I want to say Merry Christmas to everybody.”

While the players brought the patients presents, their presence and support for the families had the greatest impact.

“We always say, it just expands their network of support,” said Abbey Braddock, Lead Communications Specialist for the UPMC Childrens Hospital Foundation. “They have their doctors, they have their nurses, the child life specialists that are here, and they support them.

“But when they see their favorite hockey player, they see Sidney Crosby, they see Bryan Rust – it just shows them that more than just the people that are in these walls care about them.”

For one family in particular, Kristen Crawford and her son, Kellan, getting a special visit was the cherry on top of their discharge day. Kellan has a rare disease called short bowel syndrome, and typically has to be admitted for a week 2-3 times a year.

While the Crawford family just recently moved to Pittsburgh from Seattle three months ago for his medical care, Mom and Dad have always been Penguins fans, and they’re passing that onto their children.

“[Kellan] asked me last night, do you think Sidney Crosby will come? I said, I don’t know who’s coming,” Kristen said. “It might be a new guy I don’t know yet. Then, they told us Sidney was coming, and Kellan was like, ‘YES!’”

Kellan was in awe of how many goals both Crosby and Malkin have scored in their careers. But for the captain, it is these children’s stories and bravery that are even more impressive.

“I think just being able to come here and meet the kids and the families and hopefully brighten their day a little bit, their attitudes are incredible,” Crosby said. “I think it's inspiring for us to see just how happy and determined they are. So, it's nice we're able to come here.”

Another group – consisting of Bryan Rust, Anthony Mantha, Tristan Jarry, Harrison Brunicke, Blake Lizotte, Danton Heinen, Parker Wotherspoon, and Matt Dumba – visited a different floor.

Kimberley Fischer and her son, Carson, have been receiving treatment at UPMC Children's Hospital for 14 months now. And while Carson’s father is a huge Penguins fan and unfortunately couldn’t be there today, Carson was going to make sure to tell him about his day with the Penguins.

Carson was enjoying his favorite activity, baking some cookies, while the players walked into his room that was fully decorated for Christmas. As each day brings new challenges and different treatments for the Fischer family, today’s visit helped alleviate stress and bring some joy.

“Life in a hospital is so much different than life outside of the real world,” Kimberley said. “So, it is nice when day-to-day you’re dealing with such rough things. Every patient is different, and everyone is going through different things. For us, in particular, it’s been a crazy 14 months; it’s nice to take your mind off things. It’s like, ‘Okay, what’s happening today? We’re doing this today medically.’ But right now, in this moment, it’s a moment of fun.”

But for the players themselves, it is traditions like these that help show them the impact a team can have and different ways to give back to the community that go beyond the hockey rink.

“It’s something that we’re obviously really excited to do,” Rust said. “Come in here, put some smiles on their faces, but put smiles on our faces, too. It’s always fun meeting these kids and these families, they’re always so excited and so grateful. It puts things into perspective that hockey can be just a game sometimes, and that there are bigger things in life.”