To be an NHL player, toughness and heart are requirements.
Underneath the pads of those who wear the Kachina Jerseys at Mullett Arena, the heart they bring to the ice as our Arizona Coyotes came to Phoenix Children's Hospital on Thursday.
'Yotes Defenseman Juuso Valimaki comes to the desert, originally from Finland.
“You get older, you're not the kid anymore, it's not so much about the gifts you get it's the gifts you give,” said Valimaki.
Players dropped off a truckload of toys donated through the team's toy drive and the Team Foundation donated $10,000 to help aid the growing program of the Phoenix Children's music room.
Alexis Meruelo with the Coyotes board of directors knows the gifts and money given Thursday can help but the time, the team spending with those being treated at PCH is invaluable
“To be able to bring a little bit of that cheer, have the players interact with those children means the world,” said Meruelo.
Getting inside patient rooms to make that connection with the kids didn't get any easier during the pandemic, but PCH and the Yotes found a way.
Players were able to have real-time conversations with kids thanks to mobile video chat robots.
What looks like an iPad on a two-wheeled Segway, rolled from room to room taking questions from little ones. Players asked what the kids asked Santa for Christmas and what their favorite holiday tradition is.
Coyotes center, Liam O’Brien connected with a young patient who found the noise of putty smushed in a cup sounded roll-on-the-floor funny.
Perhaps a laugh like that is the best medicine for the day.
