There were tears throughout the arena Saturday evening after the Tignish Aces PeeWee A Girls hockey team was shut out on the ice at Credit Union Place.
The public display of emotion, however, had nothing to do with the game’s outcome.
Moments after Kara MacRae, goalie for the Charlottetown-based Capital District Cyclones, had shut the door on the Aces, she received an extra special nod from her opponents.
The Aces were aware that both Kara and her mother, Violet Robinson, are fighting cancer.
“We just wanted to spread some cheer and put a smile on their faces,” said Lindsay Hogan, an Aces parent.
Hogan had proposed a “sunshine box” after the Cyclones visited Tignish for a league game three weeks ago without their goaltender. Kara was in Halifax for a procedure related to her cancer treatment.
“You could hear the emotion kind of coming out of everybody,” Hogan said, describing the Cyclones parents’ reaction when they learned what the Aces were up to.
Following the game, Cyclones coach Greg Rivard posted on Facebook how special the gesture was.
“An absolutely wonderful story. I can’t say enough about what this team from Tignish did for Kara,” he posted.
In a subsequent interview, Rivard said the Aces’ gesture at the Summerside tournament ranks among the top of his lifetime sporting milestones.
Items in the gift box included a card signed by the Aces players, gift cards, a Toronto Maple Leafs’ flag, “and things to make her feel good about herself.”
Robinson noted the Aces’ gift showed they knew Kara was a big Toronto Maple Leaf’s fan and that she, too, was in cancer treatment. There were gift items for both, including “Kara” and “Hockey Mom” Christmas ornaments.
“It’s all the little extras, the work that they did. It meant so much.
“The thought that went into it and such a show of kindness, sportsmanship. They really touched my heart.”
On the ice, the Aces didn’t score a single goal during the tournament, but that doesn’t matter, they say. Not anymore, anyway. They won where it counts.
“I feel like, since we did that and everyone’s being so positive about it, that was like a win in our book,” said Aces player Sophie Bernard.
Hogan described the meaning of the box as: “Just a little sunshine care package, just to show somebody that you’re thinking about them.”
The Aces intended to make the presentation privately, before the game, but when the match got pushed to an earlier start they ran out of time.
Donnie MacRae said the hockey community has been very kind to his daughter since her cancer diagnosis last spring. He noted she’d received gifts from the Vegas Golden Knights and Toronto Maple Leafs, and a video message from New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, among others.
MacRae said Kara’s very appreciative of all of the support.
“The fact that they thought about (Kara) and thought enough of her situation to do that for her. It really meant a lot, the thought of it.”
He admits it was an emotional exchange.
“I would like a lot of recognition for Tignish,” he said. “There’s a lot of great people up there, and this proves it.”
While much recognition has been directed at the Aces, their manager directed some back at a Cyclones player who approached her after the game and asked that she relay a message to the Aces’ goaltender: “’Would you tell her what a great job she did?’ And she truly meant it. It was just amazing.”
