We all saw the saga of Washington Capitals winger Brett Connolly trying to give a cute young fan a puck during warmups — and after three tries, succeeding. But the story doesn’t end there.
It should have been a simple feel-good moment — during Washington Capitals warmups, Brett Connolly sees an adorable young fan banging on the glass, taps his stick at her and tosses it over the glass for her.
But as we all know now, it took three attempts before Connolly was able to get the young fan her puck, since a man seated behind her kept intercepting it and handing it off to the young boys seated on either side of her.
If at first you don't succeed... try, try, try again! #CapsJackets #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/6S3b5cfXNW
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 15, 2018
This elicited a lot of reactions in the sports world, including one from yours truly, begging adults to just let athletes and children have their moment without interfering.
But there’s more to this story.
“Puck Girl” is none other than first-grader Keelan Moxley, and she told the world her side of the story in a video for CBC News:
You may have seen the video of Washington Capitals’ Brett Connolly trying to give a little girl a puck, only to be intercepted twice by a man standing behind her. We asked Keelan Moxley for her side of the story. #TheMoment pic.twitter.com/ElTILGgsUk
— CBC News: The National (@CBCTheNational) April 17, 2018
“I felt devastated. And sad. But I felt good for the two boys,” Keelan said about not getting her puck. “I was kind of sad because I didn’t get it. But Brett Connolly kept banging on the glass a lot, at me.”
Well, it gets even better for Keelan. Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has offered Keelan and her family his glass seats to Game 5 in Washington, D.C.
And if that’s not exciting enough, Connolly tweeted a special message to Keelan with the promise of another special souvenir:
Enjoy the game Keelan!! Maybe you can get another puck? https://t.co/yj6YaeTdWk
— Brett Connolly (@bconnolly8) April 19, 2018
There’s hardly anything more special for a child than the bond they share with their favorite sports team and athletes, even if that love is hardly ever reciprocated. But when it is? Pure heartwarming goodness.
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