‘It’s So Surreal, It Feels like a Dream’ 

For Brystal Murray, hockey is more than a sport she plays and loves to watch. Hockey has empowered her and helped her gain confidence.

“It’s definitely helped me get out there a lot more,” Brystal explained. “I try to do a lot more stuff, I actually put my heart out there. It was really neat. It’s one of the very first things I really gave my all in.”

“I think it’s helped with her confidence,” Brystal’s mother, Brayce, shared. “With Brystal’s diagnosis, there are a lot of things she just shouldn’t be doing. It could cause a lot of issues for her down the road. So, we’ve been like ‘hey, if you want to try it, we’re going to try it. If it doesn’t work, then it’s not something for us.’

“As a parent, you want your kids to feel like they can do anything,” Brayce continued. “We don’t know (if she can’t do something) if we don’t try. Watching her on the ice has been amazing.”

Murray has Epidermolysis Bullosa, a rare skin condition that causes her skin to be extremely fragile and prone to blistering. However, she’s played hockey without any significant issues.

Through Make-A-Wish, Murray received a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join the Utah Mammoth for a practice day and a game at Delta Center. The day started with a tour of the practice facility before Brystal and her family jumped right into an NHL player’s routine.

“We got to see the new practice facility,” Brystal recounted. “It was really cool, it was huge. It was fun to be one of the first to see it. Then we got to watch the guys practice and what they do. It was really cool. We ate breakfast with them; we got to see their daily routine. I got to go on the ice with them. I think that was my favorite part of the whole day. I got to pass with them, I got to do warmups with them, it was really neat.”

“It’s awesome,” Mammoth forward Nick Schmaltz shared of Murray’s visit. “You get to take a step back and realize how fortunate we are and to do something like that … I know it means the world to her and it’s super special for us to (have) this opportunity and to be able to give back and make her day for one day. Take her mind off things and all the stuff she’s been through, so super happy we were able to do that.”

In addition to practicing with the team, Murray had the opportunity to create a mini mic question for the players, and it was an instant hit.

“I got to ask the question for the mini mic; I got to do my own question," Brystal explained. "It was really fun. It got a lot of comments, got them talking a little bit.”

To cap off a busy day at the practice and training facility, Tusky had one final surprise up his sleeve.

“I was surprised on the ice. Tusky came out with a pink cake for my birthday,” Brystal smiled. “It was actually a really fun surprise; I wasn’t expecting it at all. It was really fun too because it was my favorite color and my mom didn’t tell me, so it added to the excitement.”

The excitement continued the next night when Murray and her family watched the Mammoth’s 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. She even saw her favorite player, Clayton Keller, score the fifth and final goal of the night. From skating with NHL players to watching them win at Delta Center, it was an incredible experience for Murray.

“It’s so surreal, it feels like a dream a lot,” Brystal beamed. “I was talking to my mom yesterday and I was like ‘wow, this is real, this is happening.’ It means a lot, it’s crazy. I never would have thought this would be happening.”