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.