Blackhawks grant 6-year-old boy wish with one-day contract

CHICAGO -- Luca Bear Bish wanted to be a member of his favorite team. On Friday, his wish came true.

The Chicago Blackhawks, in partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, signed Bish to a one-day contract. The 6-year-old from San Diego is in remission from T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which he has had for 3 1/2 years.
Luca joined the Blackhawks on the ice at the end of their morning skate prior to their game against the Arizona Coyotes at United Center on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH+, BSAZX), which he will attend with his family. He took some shots on net and made some passes with his favorite Chicago player, forward Patrick Kane, and wore Kane's No. 88 during the skate.

"He comes in here and he's got his own stall and he's wearing No. 88, so he's stealing my number," Kane said in the Blackhawks dressing room with Luca sitting beside him. "I'm going to have to get a new number.
"But yeah, we had some fun out there and [it] puts things in perspective too, obviously especially with what's been going on in the sports world the last week or so with [Buffalo Bills safety] Damar Hamlin (who collapsed from cardiac arrest during a game at the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday, was administered CPR on the field and has been hospitalized since) and thinking about him and the world in general and obviously people are a lot less fortunate than we are, so it's nice to have Luca come out here today and join us for the skate. It was a great moment."

A soft-spoken, shy Luca said "it was fun" playing with Kane.
After the skate, Luca signed his contract, as did Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson and coach Luke Richardson.
"To see the guys come over when I blew the whistle to introduce Luca at the bench, everyone just lights up and sees a young fan watching the guys and what they do and pays attention at a young age like this," Richardson said. "It's an inspirational thing for the guys, so we're excited to have Luca as part of the team today."