Denna Laing drops puck at Bruins game

Denna Laing, the former Boston Pride forward who sustained a severe spinal cord injury during the 2016 Women's Winter Classic, dropped the ceremonial first puck in an emotional ceremony before the Boston Bruins played the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden on Saturday.

The injury occurred at Gillette Stadium on Dec. 31, 2015. Laing needed seven hours of surgery to repair and replace multiple fractured vertebrae. Her unrelenting optimism and never-quit attitude has been an inspiration to others.
On Saturday a video montage was shown at TD Garden featuring Laing during her rehabilitation as well as spending time with current and former Bruins, including Hockey Hall of Famers Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque and Cam Neely, as well as with her Pride teammates.
Laing, who recently moved from a rehabilitation facility to her parents' home, arrived on the ice in a motorized wheelchair accompanied by her sister, Lexi. Laing was greeted with hugs at center ice by Bruins captain Zdeno Chara and Sabres captain Brian Gionta.

As Laing was leaving the ice, Bruins forwards Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, and defensemen Torey Krug and Adam McQuaid skated by to talk and give her a hug.
Laing, who played college hockey at Princeton University and is from the Boston area, was given the Dana Reeve Hope Award on Nov. 17 at a gala benefitting the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to curing spinal cord injuries by funding research and improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis.
At the gala, Laing spoke about her journey and how the Reeve Foundation stepped in almost immediately, along with the NHL and the Boston Bruins, to help her feel she would not be alone during her recovery.
"To the foundation for being the first people, in collaboration with the NHL, to provide the support and the resources my family and I needed, and for pushing every day to not only better my life and the millions of people with spinal cord injuries, but to achieve Christopher Reeve's dream of a world without wheelchairs," said Laing, who was presented with the award by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Bruins president Cam Neely.
"Knowing that dream is closer than ever because of the cutting-edge research supported by the Reeve Foundation inspires me every day, as I do exactly what I told myself before that last shift: 'All right Denna, you've got to pick it up, you've got to hustle, you've got to work your hardest.'"