Among the people I helped, the Zajdzinski family is one that stands out. They are part of the great community of hockey families that play at TSPC in El Segundo. Mark and Joy and their kids Zoey and Gianni are among the nicest and most genuine people around.
I coached Zoey and Gianni, who played on the same team with my son, Jesse.
They were evacuated because of the fires in Pacific Palisades, leaving almost everything behind. I was able to help their family retrieve some treasured things, like Zoey’s art and supplies, and also some hockey gear for Mark to play beer league games and Zoey and Gianni to play in their rec league games. For a family going through so much, this small assist was much appreciated.
I really never considered being able to play in this game, even with the first-responder element. I had no problem with that. To be fair, the Kings and I are more than square. Several years ago, when Jesse was critically ill and needed to find a match for a bone marrow transplant, the Kings went all out to promote his cause with the National Marrow Donor Program and Be The Match to find a donor.
A match, thankfully, was found. During his treatment the Kings, especially Derek Forbort, Kyle Clifford, Drew Doughty and Daryl Evans, made sure he had some very special times to enjoy. The hockey community coming together for another assist.
Jesse is fully recovered and playing hockey again.
But I was invited to play, by Luc Robitaille, no less. Who says no?
We spent Thursday doing some skating, an opportunity for the non-professionals in the game to get some rust off.
A few minutes in, a new group comes out. Retired NHL players like Rob Blake, Nelson Emerson, Matt Greene, Alex Edler, Dion Phaneuf, Nate Thompson, Daryl Evans. Once I pick up my jaw, my goal was to stay out of the way.
Instead, we had a practice full of NHL-style drills, followed by a scrimmage.
Playing 4-on-4, I jump out to start the scrimmage. My defense partner is Blake, the Hall of Fame defenseman who is the Kings general manager. He skates over and says, “Hey kid, you can play forward”. I tell him, “Nah I’m a defenseman, you can play forward if you want.” Thankfully, he laughed at my joke and said, “We’ll all play offense then.”
It was all just so much fun. As I was leaving the ice, I thought that if this was the part I was able to participate in, it would already be one of the best events ever.
Instead, I got to walk the red carpet the next day with my son Oscar. We were cheered, thanked, videotaped, photographed and interviewed — including by NHL.com!
