When philadelphia flyers Take ice for warm-up Thursday night st louis bluesThis will include heart-touching and history-making knick-knacks that the players will wear.
Philly has partnered with skateskins, a company that makes customizable skate accessories, to showcase custom designs created by Flyers players and young cancer patients as part of the club’s work in support of Hockey Fights Cancer.
“We had the idea to bring players [to partner] To design together for children battling cancer,” Flyers Charities President and Alternate Governor Blair Listino told ESPN. “About a month ago, after practice, nine kids came and met nine players. And they designed them together. The player will design one side and the child will design the other side.”
listino said so Trevor Zegras He was the fastest in the draw as the first player to raise his hand for initiative. He was paired with 19-year-old Juliet, who is suffering from grade-4 glioblastoma multiforme. His design was inspired by his tattoos.
Center sean couturier and protector travis sanheim Has been a long-time supporter of the Hockey Fight Cancer initiative.
Couturier was paired with a 14-year-old girl named Emily, who was battling craniopharyngioma, from Trois-Rivières, Quebec, where Couturier lived for the summer.
“It was nice to converse in French and make connections,” Emily said. “He was designing a lot of flyers stuff related to hockey, and I asked him to design something about himself, what he likes, what his hobbies and things are. He had a fishing rod. He loves nature.”
Sanheim was partnered with George, a 15-year-old battling cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, whose favorite player, in fact, is Travis Sanheim. The rescuer admitted that he was not the most artistic, and was happy to perform the drawing duties.
“I left it up to George in most cases,” Sanheim explained. “Just allowed him to be creative with it. [I] Throwing in a few ideas here and there, but I wanted him to really enjoy it and have most of the responsibility for designing it, and then have a chance to wear it and see it firsthand.”
Ahead noah cates Was paired with 10-year-old Rachel, who is battling acute myeloid leukemia, and is after a bone marrow transplant.
“He [drew] Some initials of some of his other friends. I [added] Some college teammates had cancer,” Cates said of his special design. “Just talking about some friends and people who have gone through it and had some different experiences was pretty remarkable. It’s crazy for a kid so young to go through this. “I had a great time with him and I’m looking forward to that game and wearing it.”
Design Day was not only a highlight for the kids, but it definitely left its mark on the players as well.
“It’s crazy how strong they are, they’re the happiest people in the room and have the most energy,” the defenseman said. jamie drysdaleWho was paired with 10-year-old Chase, who is battling rhabdomyosarcoma. “It was incredible to be a part of. [I] Have fun. The kid I was paired with was amazing. He had a lot of energy, a lot of great ideas, it was really great to design with him.”
Listino added it further travis konecny And his child, Frankie, put the initials “BAMF” on his design. “Frankie started writing it and Travis followed, they laughed a lot.”
The Flyers are the first organization to adopt skateskins at the team level, where every player will wear them during warmups.
“This is the second year of our Hockey Fights Cancer partnership through the NHL, and this will be the first time they are being worn on NHL ice,” SkateSkins founder Matt Keeler told ESPN. “It’s a huge milestone moment, and yes, for us, the Flyers really wanted to be the first team to wear it, and I think they have some pretty good ideas about what they want to do for the future. They contacted us, and the players were on board right away.”
“I like to be the first [team] To do that,” Listino said. “It also shows that our team is definitely one for everyone. And I think it also shows that a person’s opinion is, ‘This is really important to me.’ And I think most people would say that cancer has affected their lives in some way or another. So, it was really exciting for everyone to come forward so quickly with this initiative.”
Players who did not participate in the custom design event will wear a Hockey Fights Cancer design created by SkateSkins, which includes a variation of the familiar placard where players can write the name of the person they are honoring.
Keeler said players also placed additional orders of the final SkateSkins designs so they could gift a pair of skates to the children their artworks were paired with.
The NHL approved the use of skateskins during warmups before the start of this season. players like auston matthews And clayton keller There have been supporters of the brand in the past, and players have worn the skateskins in other leagues such as the AHL and the Canadian Junior League. Listino said the Flyers will leave the door open for players to continue creating skateskins designs for causes or forms of expression that are meaningful to them.
Hockey Fights Cancer is a joint initiative of the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association in partnership with the WE Foundation for Cancer Research, and is in its 27th season.
