Crosby meeting highlights memorable day for Make-A-Wish 15-year-old

MONTREAL -- It was a perfect day and night in every way Wednesday for a New Brunswick family at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Cameron Ward, a 15-year-old dyed-in-the-wool Sidney Crosby fan, met his hero, then watched him play brilliantly with three assists to lead Canada to a 4-3 overtime win against Sweden.

He met Nathan MacKinnon and Brad Marchand, other favorites who each would score goals.

Cameron's mother, Vanessa, is a huge Toronto Maple Leafs fan. It was Mitch Marner, a Maple Leafs star, who scored the winning goal.

Father Shane Ward adores the Montreal Canadiens, so he got to absorb every pore of Bell Centre, sitting beneath 24 championship and 18 retired number banners that hang from the arena rafters.

Cameron Ward sits at one of the player interview pods in Bell Centre's media room, and in Canada's dressing room with Brad Marchand.

Cameron's 20-year-old sister, Hailie, though not a huge hockey fan, has a place in her heart for Jack Hughes, who's playing here for the United States.

It's been about three years since Cameron, who has the genetic condition cystic fibrosis, has been on the Make-A-Wish Canada radar. Plans began to take shape about a year ago and this week with the NHL, it all came together.

For more than 40 years, the Make-A-Wish organization has granted life-changing wishes for sick children and their families, and to say that Cameron's life changed forever Wednesday wouldn't begin to cover it.

In Montreal from Saint John, New Brunswick, on Monday, the Ward family did a bit of sightseeing before arriving at Bell Centre on game day, chaperoned and tour-guided by Elizabeth Hayward, the NHL's Senior Manager of Social Impact & Strategic Integration.

Since about age 6, Cameron has been a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, his universe revolving around Crosby, the team's captain.

Cameron Ward, about age 7, wearing his Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh Penguins jersey, and the form he completed for Make-A-Wish Canada.

At age 12, he completed a Make-A-Wish form, hockey a thread throughout the 17-point questionnaire. Never having attended an NHL game, it was Cameron's dream to see Crosby and the Penguins.

No one knew at the time that he would meet his hockey hero at the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off, which wasn't even a concept when he completed his form.

"Originally, it was going to a Penguins game in Pittsburgh," Shane Ward said during Sweden's morning skate, his son sitting on the team's bench, players buzzing around him, stopping at arm's length during breaks for a swig of water.

"It didn't work out as quickly as we hoped but this has worked out even better. Cam's been a die-hard Sidney Crosby fan, 100 percent, since Sid hit the ice. He's going to be smiling for days."

Canada coach Jon Cooper meets Cameron Ward, giving him a team tuque and autographed cap.

Cameron was "pretty sick" when he was younger, his father said. Myriad sweat and DNA tests followed, during which he was determined to have cystic fibrosis, a genetic condition that affects the lungs, digestive system and other organs in the body.

Tests are ongoing to determine the severity of Cameron's illness, but to the teenager, this all seems to be just a minor inconvenience. He's active in sports to keep his lungs as healthy as possible, playing hockey in Saint John and thinking about joining his high school team next year.

Make-A-Wish Canada and the NHL put the many parts together to make Cameron's dream come true.

"It's been really crazy, just amazing," he said following Sweden's skate, soon to head down a corridor to Canada's dressing room. "Just being in Montreal has been amazing. It's been a really good experience to be here."

He'd already visited with Sweden players, the Canadiens' dressing room converted for home-team use during the 4 Nations, sitting with Erik Karlsson, William Nylander, Filip Forsberg and others, given a team jersey.

In a few moments, Canada coach Jon Cooper would meet Cameron at ice level for a chat and to give him a team tuque and autographed cap.

Cameron Ward meets Sweden's Erik Karlsson in the team's Bell Centre dressing room.

Then it was into Canada's room where he met a handful of players, including Crosby, MacKinnon and Marchand. That those three stars are among Cameron's favorites is not by accident; all are from Nova Scotia, next door to the teenager's native New Brunswick.

"I've been a Penguins fan since they were a dynasty team," he said, referring to Pittsburgh's back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 2016 and 2017. "And Nathan and Brad, I like all the guys from Nova Scotia for sure. They're all really nice guys."

Cameron emerged from Canada's room with Connor McDavid's autograph on the shoulder of his maple leaf-crested jersey. He had a couple of bulging bags in his hands, having gone upstairs to the Canadiens' Bell Centre boutique and souvenir shop. The shopping spree was courtesy of Fanatics, a Make-A-Wish and NHL partner.

The Wards returned to their hotel to catch their breath, then were back at Bell Centre in prime seats for Canada's victory against Sweden.

There was little time to think this was all a dream, the family back at the arena Thursday for the morning skates of Finland and the United States, then ready to attend the game between those two teams at night before flying home Friday afternoon.

There's a pretty good chance that Cameron still will be in his Canada jersey for some time.

Will he wear it to school?

"Well, yeah," he replied, as if the question even had to be asked.

Top photo: Cameron Ward with Canada's Sidney Crosby (l.) and Nathan MacKinnon.