When 10-year-old Myer Gallant from O’Leary, P.E.I., was given the chance to Make-A-Wish, he didn’t rush his decision.
After carefully weighing his options — like getting a pool or going on a Disney cruise — Myer made up his mind. He wanted to meet Sidney Crosby and Ryan Graves, and see a Pittsburgh Penguins game.
“It’s just really cool,” he said of the idea. “I just figured it out somehow.”
Myer has spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disease impacting the nervous system and skeletal muscle.
He’s been a Penguins fan for three years, and his wish to meet his favourite National Hockey League players came true last week when he visited Pittsburgh with his mother, Jaclyn Ellis, and cousin Rowan Rennie.
These young Islanders spent a day with Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins
The experience made an impact on Myer and his family.
“Make-A-Wish, they do an incredible job,” Ellis said. “But Myer’s experience was completely over the top, and that was because of the Penguins. They surpassed any potential expectation that we had for the trip.”
When the group arrived in Pittsburgh, they got to attend a Penguins practice and a game.
Inside the dressing room, Myer discovered that the team had set up a full locker for him — complete with a helmet, a hockey bag full of hats and even a personalized jersey with Myer’s name and the number 87.
“Sidney Crosby came in, we shook hands and all that and we just talked for a while,” Myer said. “I actually had to do a little interview like this.”
Myer also got to make his commitment to the team official.
“I signed a contract to be on the Pittsburgh Penguins for a day,” he said. “I was red as a lobster, sweating.”
Meyer fist-bumped the players before they took to the ice for their game, and got to read out the starting lineup in the locker room.
“It was really cool, but stressful too at the same time.”
The three Islanders didn’t show up to the arena empty-handed.
“We wanted to put something together just as a thank you. And what do you get NHL players?” Ellis said.
“We thought, what better than to bring them things from the Maritimes that they can’t easily access?”
Crosby and Graves — the two players Myer most wanted to meet — both hail from Nova Scotia. Crosby is from Cole Harbour and Graves is a Yarmouth native.
“Funny story,” Myer said as he recounted giving the gift to Graves. “We told him there’s just a couple like treats in there. And he’s like, ‘Is there Cow’s chips in here?’ And the first thing he pulled out was Cow’s chips.”
The Maritime connection didn’t end there.
After practice, as Graves was leaving the arena, he ran into the family again outside and invited them to come into the dressing room before the game the next day.
It wasn’t part of the Make-A-Wish plan, said Ellis, but Graves helped make it happen.
“Ryan had said: ‘They’re fellow Maritimers and we’re the players and we want them to come down,” she said.
Getting to meet the Penguins was cool, Myer said. But doing it with cousin and best friend Rowan made it even better.
Myer’s brother passed up the chance to take the trip so the pair could experience it together.
“[Rowan] and Myer have been best friends since they were born,” Ellis said.
“There’s a little less than a year in between them and their relationship is just so special. They’re cousins, but they’re also besties at the same time.”
That special bond wasn’t lost on the Penguins. A gift from star forward Crosby left both of the boys in shock.
“I opened this thing and then I saw two jerseys,” Myer said. “I looked at it and it said ‘Rowan,’ and I was like, ‘Rowan?'”
Myer said Rowan dropped to the floor.
“It’s so amazing that you get two Olympic jerseys — home and away,” said Rowan. “I was so excited and then I dropped to my knees. Like, what is happening?”
The excitement brought on by the Penguins went beyond just the kids. For Ellis, the opportunity meant a lot.
“From a parent’s perspective, to be able to watch your child have this experience and be present to watch his facial expressions and see how all of these players treated not just Myer, but Rowan too. It was just an exceptional experience.”
