The Washington Capitals opened their doors to Braden Neinaber over the weekend, providing the 8-year-old with an NHL experience he will never forget.
Neinaber is a Saskatoon, Sask., native suffering from a rare disease called Langerhans cell histiocytosis. His hockey idol is Capitals goalie and fellow Saskatchewan native Braden Holtby, so the The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada worked with the team to send Braden and his family down to Washington.
While there, the young hockey fan practiced with the team, hung out in the locker room and even dropped the gloves, knocking rookie Tom Wilson to the ice with a nice right hand.
“Unless you go through what they go through, you never really understand what it’s like,” Capitals right wing Troy Brouwer told CSN Washington. “The guys in here will do anything to make kids smile when they need a smile.”
The highlight of Braden’s trip came the following afternoon, though, when he was chosen to drop the ceremonial first puck before Washington’s matinee matchup with the Buffalo Sabres. Alex Ovechkin and Steve Ott skated in to take the faceoff, and the youngster drew a great cheer from the crowd when he attempted to toss the visiting captain out of the circle.
Check out some scenes from Braden’s time with the team below.
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GIF via Russian Machine Never Breaks
