Day 1 in Quebec City – Kings players visit children’s hospital, youth center

Some have suggested that hockey is a universal language.

And perhaps that is true on some levels.

But, watching members of the Los Angeles Kings make their way around the Centre mère-enfant Soleil of CHU de Québec-Université Laval children’s hospital on Wednesday afternoon, maybe it’s just as much compassion that binds universally, no matter our background or the language we speak.

It’s not that these players haven’t done hospital visits before.

It is part of NHL players’ DNA, for the most part, dating back to when they were playing junior or college hockey or with their club teams in Europe. Most have been doing these kinds of community visits since they were in their teens.

What set this apart was the fact that virtually all of the people these 10 NHL players came in contact with during their extended visit to the children’s facility spoke French as a first language. Many of these people speak little or no English.

Apart from Phil Danault, who grew up and played his junior hockey in Victoriaville, Quebec about 90 minutes from Quebec City, the rest of the Kings’ group do not speak French or speak it at a very rudimentary level.

Yet, from the moment the players filed off the bus in their jerseys, to the time they said emotional goodbyes an hour or so later, there was not one moment of awkwardness, not one moment of hesitancy on the part of the players or the patients, parents and staff they came in contact with.

Instead of words the players communicated in a more basic yet effective way, with waves and hugs and by posing for pictures and signing cards and, well, by simply being there.

Meaningful?

As the team’s bus pulled up in front of the hospital, staff and some patients and with adults in tow, gathered to greet the players. A young boy walked out his mouth wide open, his hand on top of his head as though he couldn’t believe his eyes which were round as saucers.

NHL players. Real NHL players, walking into his hospital.

“Wow,” he said looking up at a woman who may have been his mother before trailing behind the group back into the hospital hoping for a further glimpse.

The 10 players were split into two groups of five visiting various wards in the children’s facility.

Rolling carts filled with large player cards, pucks, key chains and wrist bands followed along with each group.

The players visited the intensive care unit and then a surgical unit and then a mixed ward where patients ranged from the tiniest infants and toddlers to older children and teens.

For the younger set, the highlight of the day might well have been a visit from the Kings’ familiar mascot, Bailey, and there were a number of special requests for the furry team rep as the groups moved through the hospital all of which were met.

One of the first rooms visited by the first group of players was a four-year old boy who was a huge hockey fan. While his parents spoke little English, his father mimicked the shooting of a puck with a big smile and the look of enchantment on their son’s face as he looked at the gifts left by his surprise visitors provided a perfect answer for what such a visit meant.

The players may have been in the room a matter of minutes and yet the feeling of excitement and the smiles that were left in their wake suggest that while it seems such a simple thing to stop and say hello to someone who is sick or feeling poorly, the gift of time and the empathy that is at the heart of such gifts, really cannot be quantified.

The players also took the time to pose for pictures with a wide range of staff on various wards. These nurses and orderlies and doctors and the rest of the hospital staff, whose duties of course keep them face-to-face with the hardest of life’s realities on a daily basis, seemed likewise taken with their visitors judging from the smiles and the retakes of photos as more and more staff joined in on each ward.

Dr. Louis Crevier is a pediatric neurosurgeon, considered one of the top doctors in his field.

You could have found him in one of the staff pictures as well.

“I’m very happy for the kids,” Crevier said. “Some of the kids spend days and weeks, even months sometimes, in the hospital so they’re pretty lonely. The families, sometimes they’re far away.”

The hospital, part of a network of hospitals in the area, provides care for children and their families from a wide geographic range including northern New Brunswick and other far-flung parts of northern Quebec and beyond.

“It’s a very, very large territory,” Crevier explained. “Sometimes they’re far away from their family so it’s great to have some visitors.”

The local major junior hockey team, The Remparts, visit occasionally. So, too, do local firemen and police officers.

“So the kids really love it,” Crevier said. “But, I mean the Los Angeles Kings, that’s quite special.”

Crevier is an admitted Montreal Canadiens fan, but it would seem that now he holds a special place in his fandom heart for the Kings.

“I’m a big hockey fan, I’m really happy you’re here, yeah,” he said with a smile.

Sometimes children were too sick to have the players visit their rooms and so the group of NHLers (and Bailey, too) would wave en masse to the room’s occupants.

Others were able to get closer to the players and their parents.

Regardless of the contact it left an impression on the group of players.

“Obviously a lot of them don’t speak English and a lot of us don’t speak French so the language barrier is kind of hard but it’s cool to just come and see them get their spirits lifted a little bit,” said veteran forward Trevor Lewis.

They may not have shared a common language but Lewis is a parent and there is also something universal about the anguish of a parent having a child in need of medical care.

“Myself, having kids at home, I know how difficult a time it can be for a parent,” Lewis said. “And just to come in and just say ‘hi’ and just brighten up their face and brighten up their day a little bit I think it means a lot.”

For younger players who may not view this moment through the same lens as someone like Lewis, the afternoon was no less impactful.

“It’s obviously super tough seeing,” Alex Laferriere admitted. “But being here with everyone and we were with Bailey a lot, it kind of just gives the kids a little escape from reality for a couple of minutes. If we could just give them that escape it’s good. And obviously you could see the joy the parents have seeing their kids like that, that’s special.”

An activity like this, in a city far from home with an NHL regular season on the horizon, is also good for self-awareness, a reminder that being a professional athlete brings a whole range of perhaps unexpected benefits, not the least of which is to make someone smile or feel special just by sharing their space.

“It is pretty tough seeing what they’re going through,” Jordan Spence said of the patients and their families. “Also, at the same time, when you kind of take a step back, you kind of have to realize what we have with our life and how special we have it and it is pretty cool to kind of just go here and just brighten up their day and also support them as well.”

Took it outside for some Dek Hockey this afternoon 🏃‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/TGtI8PYhhR

— LA Kings (@LAKings) October 2, 2024

Ball Hockey Bonanza
The Kings also visited the Patro Lavel, a local youth community center, for a ball hockey game with some local members of Motivaction Jeunesse, “an organization that promote academic perseverance among culturally diverse youth and those in difficulty.”

Kings forwards Quinton Byfield and Jack Studnicka, along with goaltenders Darcy Kuemper and Pheonix Copley, spent some time today in a ball-hockey scrimmage with kids, with the players dividing up two on each side along with several kids playing and many more watching and interacting. After some photos on the rink, the players signed autographs and took photos with the kids who participated in the day and others who just attended the center that day.

Byfield played ball hockey as a kid, even traveling to play competitively. That alone excited him about the prospect of getting out there today. Honestly, from my vantage point, there wasn’t a person regardless of age who was more into it than Byfield was. Probably should have put his three teammates on the other side of the rink to contain him. As much fun as the kids had, Byfield might’ve had even more fun playing hockey with them, giving back, communicating in a space that everyone shares between the boards. When he was growing up, Byfield never had an event like today, though he wishes he could have. In a position to do so, he’s hoping to be a part of making that experience a special one for everyone who was able to attend.

“When I was younger, I wish I could have done more of that, so being able to come out here and do it with the [kids] now, start something like that, it’s special and it’s a lot of fun for myself,” he said.

For Byfield and so many others, these events are an important part of the trip.

As a professional hockey player, giving back time to the community is a part of the gig. Byfield gets that, as do so many others who were out at the hospital or the ball hockey event today.

“Whenever you can go out and the community and do things, not just in LA but now that we’re in Quebec now and help out here, it’s fun,” he added. I had a great time out here and I honestly love doing this stuff.”

Also attending was former LA Kings defenseman Philippe Boucher and Kings Hockey Operations Advisor Manon Rheaume.

Rheaume is truly at home, with her hometown of Beauport right around five miles from the Videotron Centre, where the Kings will play tomorrow evening. Boucher is from St-Apollinaire, which is approximately 30 minutes away. Boucher played with the Kings from 1995 – 2002, while Rheaume joined the Kings organization in 2022, after he own playing career with the Canadian National Team. A young goaltender had a special conversation with Rheaume specifically, which he was almost hesitant to engage in. Manon carries a lot of weight in Quebec.

The Kings will hold additional clinics tomorrow and Saturday, with players participating alongside Boucher, Rheaume, fellow Kings alum Stephane Fiset and Kings broadcaster and alum Daryl Evans. Players not playing that night will visit during the time between morning skate and the game. Additionally, the Kings will visit a local foodbank – La Bouchee Genereuse – to sort non-perishable food items to be distributed to families in need.