Wings bring joy to kids during annual Children's Hospital visit

DETROIT -- There is nothing like seeing children smile during the holidays.
But those smiles are even more valuable when those children are in the hospital at this time of year.

The Red Wings made their traditional visit to the Children's Hospital of Michigan after practice Tuesday.
"This is probably the visit that we look forward most to doing," captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "Just for us to have a chance to spend some time with all the kids and their families, because the families are going through tough times, too. But for us to be here and just hopefully spread some joy and have some laughter with the kids and their families means a lot."
Wings coach Jeff Blashill said he has some personal connections that make these visits both meaningful and memorable.
"I'm a father of three, one of my best friend's little boy has had cancer, spent lots of time in different children's hospitals, my niece, she has a rare blood disorder but she has to go to weekly," Blashill said. "I spent three or four days when my son had heart surgery at Mott's Children's Hospital when he was two years old five years ago. These are important visits. What I find over there is you get way more out of it than the children do; it's a real reminder of perspective.
"Even when I was in there with my own son, it was unbelievable to see and to understand we were lucky, he had a fixable problem and some of the kids don't necessarily have fixable problems and so they're trying to enjoy every second of every day they can and I think that's important to remember that and perspective to me matters tons. I hope we can bring some happiness to the young kids over there, but I know we'll get way more out if it than they get."
Defenseman Trevor Daley has made similar visits with other teams but this was his first opportunity to do so with the Wings in Detroit.
"Obviously as hockey players and as athletes, this is one of the things you get to do is come put smiles on some kids' faces that probably haven't been smiling much lately," Daley said. "As humbling as it is, you come here and you're excited for this one but when you leave you kind of put things in perspective that these kids aren't leaving, some of these kids are staying. Having kids myself, it's not always the most joyful thing to feel that way but because you get to come and put smiles on kids' faces and know how happy they are to see us for that little bit is pretty special."
Zetterberg, his teammates and Blashill divided into groups and each group brought Wings-themed gifts to the kids who were staying at the hospital.

One mom brought her daughter Cameron to the hospital for a surgery, which had to be rescheduled because of Cameron's high-risk asthma.
But Cameron, 11, and her sister Makyla still enjoyed meeting the Wings.
"It's really good," mom Lisa said. "She got to see the Pistons, the Tigers. It's so ironic. I asked today, 'When are the Red Wings coming?' And here you guys are."
Said Cameron: "It means a lot because a lot of these kids can't be out here having support because they have certain problems so it means a lot for them to come out here."
Noah Simms, 3, who was with his mother, Ambyre Patterson of Detroit, showed Zetterberg, Trevor Daley and Frans Nielsen his video game.

"I asked him how to play that game and he played for a while," Zetterberg said. "He's probably way better than I am at that game."
Nick, 18, told the Wings how he had played hockey in elementary school but now planned to go to medical school so he can come back and work at the Children's Hospital of Michigan when he is older.
When Nick learned that Zetterberg was the captain, he said, "You call the shots?"
Zetterberg laughed and pointed to Blashill, saying," He's the coach."
Nick said, "Everyone knows the captain calls the shots."
Kasima, 11, was a little too shy to show off her sweet singing voice for the Wings but she did have a few questions for them.
"Is it hard to play hockey," Kasima asked.
Nielsen nodded yes but Zetterberg said it wasn't hard all the time.
Then Kasima asked, "Do you win a lot?"
Zetterberg looked at Nielsen and Blashill before responding, "Sometimes."
The Wings took pictures with the kids and told them to tune into Wednesday night's game against the Boston Bruins.
"I think for us, hockey gives us so much and this city gives us so much," Zetterberg said. "For us to have a chance to give back in all different areas, but especially a day like today."