Faceoff Factor

Jordan Primeau's Story

Ashley Gallant | National Hockey League

Jan 24, 06:06 AM | Hype this story!

I could write a book listing the reasons why I love hockey. There’s the speed, the skill, the physicality, the atmosphere in a hockey rink and so on and so forth.

But this post isn’t about listing every single reason why I love the game.

I’d rather single out one thing that makes me proud to say that I’m a hockey fan. It’s the humanity of the players.

Now, we could debate all day (and we often do) about the apparent lack of respect on the ice. We mention players and teams and their antics. We talk about suspensions and we suggest that some should never have the privilege of playing in the NHL again, but what is often missed among the debates is the fact that a great many players are simply good, humble, unselfish people.

There is a reason why I’m bringing this up. This story about Jordan Primeau, a 6-year-old boy from Lively, Ontario, aired last night on TSN:

It’s unfortunate that Jordan’s story is not unique – there are many children who suffer from grave illnesses – but at the same time it’s great that many children have similar stories. How many times do we hear about NHL players visiting children’s hospitals or hanging out with Wish Kids? I assure you, it’s not unique to the Penguins organization, and we often don’t hear of the countless individual stories of kids getting to meet their hero.

So even though I don’t always agree with things that happen in a game, and even though I am occasionally disgusted by the play of some players, I salute them all the same for bringing happiness to countless people who may be in need of a happy day.