Islanders Deliver Holiday Gifts in Annual Hospital Visits

Seven-year-old David woke up excited on Thursday morning because it was his long-awaited discharge day and his first treat outside of the hospital was going to be getting spaghetti and meatballs with his mom at their hometown diner.

But more than anything else, he was thrilled to see the see the New York Islanders when they made their annual hospital visits during the holiday season.

“Seeing a kid that’s on his way out of the hospital and wanted to stick around for a few more hours to see us, that’s really special,” Noah Dobson said. “Anytime we can put a smile on a kid’s face and make a family happy, it’s meaningful for us.”

The Islanders - and Sparky the Dragon - were spread out across seven local hospitals delivering the gifts that the Isles wives and girlfriends hand-picked earlier this month, while four other area hospitals received gifts to give out to their pediatric patients. Amazed at the sea of presents, 11-year-old Lizzy was gifted a pickleball paddle because she loves to play and watch racket sports.

“It’s special for us to spend a few hours with these kids and deliver gifts,” Matt Martin said. “It’s something very important that we do every year, and it means a lot for us, hopefully it means a lot to them.”

Lizzy was more than starstruck to be greeted by Dobson, Martin, Hudson Fasching and Alex Romanov on Thursday afternoon. The group learned how to play the game ‘Pigs on Trampolines’ with Lizzy and a few other pediatric patients, sharing smiles and laughs with the families.

“That was extremely special,” Dobson said. “It’s great just to have fun for a bit. We all look forward to playing games with the kids going through tough times, it’s awesome to see the smiles on their faces.”

The day was filled with heartwarming and joyful interactions, as 15-month-old Brody gave the team fist bumps when they visited his hospital room. Another patient, six-year-old Angel, was telling the Islanders about his favorite Pokémon.

The group of Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal, Scott Mayfield, JG Pageau, Ilya Sorokin and Bo Horvat visited Cohen Children’s Medical Center to spread holiday cheer, handing out presents and also playing virtual Charades in a hospital studio.

“They’re going through tough times, and I’m sure it’s even harder around the holidays to be isolated here,” said Horvat. “To give them an extra boost and get their minds off it for a bit, it’s great for us to do that.”

Kevin Coleman was moved by watching the way the team interacted with his 10-month-old son Jeremiah and the time they took to check in with the family.

“Athletes are larger than life,” said Coleman, who relayed to Mayfield that he’d attended the Isles regular season finale against Pittsburgh last year. “To see them in the room, you can see how grateful they are for the position they hold and that they’re able to give back. It’s amazing to see people of that magnitude have that human element as well.”

Though Isles are seen by the community as heroes both on and off the ice, the players carry themselves with humility and are trying to make a difference in any way they can.

“It’s a good positive distraction, but at the same time we’re just regular people too,” Horvat said. “To be able to put a smile on kids’ faces and bring some joy to these families, it’s great that we can do this, but to all the nurses and doctors and everybody here on staff every day, they’re the real heroes.”

The impact goes further than the Islanders might realize, as moments like this are unforgettable for families going through tough times.

“I’m always going to remember that the Islanders came to our room,” Coleman said. “They’ve brought joy to Jeremiah’s life, because he’s been here for a long time so it’s great to have these moments that are very memorable.”

For families in the hospital who are huge Islanders fans, Thursday’s visits were extra special. One of the teenage patients, Ethan, got to meet his favorite player in Martin and shared how we grew up in Mineola and loved going to games at Nassau Coliseum and now UBS Arena.

“It’s always awesome to connect with huge Islanders fans,” Martin said. “One of the kids, Ethan, we were sharing hockey stories with him, and he told us about his favorite Islanders moments. It’s a special thing we’re able to do, to meet these kids and give them a present.”

Watching sports can serve as a much-needed positive distraction from the challenges these families are facing, so anything the Isles can do to help is more than worth it.

“It’s a pretty incredible position we’re in that we get to come and surprise kids, to visit them in their hospital room,” Lee said. “It’s a pretty unique experience and that ability to give back this time of year is really nice.”