Canucks.com
Nov 3, 2002
By Kevin Kinghorn

About 60 beaming faces are lighting up a dreary Monday afternoon in Shaughnessy - and a good 20 of them are twisted and hideously ugly.

"He's definitely got a mouth like a hockey player," says Harold Druken, laughing, while he eyes a jagged, gaping hole where a mouth should have been. "He's missing a couple of teeth... We had a bit of an accident."

Druken holds a small orange saw in one hand and spins a fresh jack-o- lantern with the other so tiny, two-year-old Sophia can get a good look at their work. She smiles from her mother's arms and reaches out for the wonky-faced pumpkin.

"We kind of drew it ourselves," explains Druken. "We were going to do a stencil but decided to draw it freehand."

It's the annual pumpkin carving jamboree up at the Canuck Place Children's Hospice where players visit children with progressive life-limiting illnesses to help sculpt jack-o-lanterns.

More than a dozen players filtered through the crowded foyer of the 16,000 square-foot former heritage home after morning practice, each met by Canuck mascot Fin, the big fuzzy Life Bear, and a throng of anxious kids.

There were brief introductions, but few were needed judging by wide grins throughout the room. The kids know exactly who the players are, and besides, there's some serious work to be done.

The distinctive smell of fresh pumpkin innards quickly fills the air as Markus Naslund, Ed Jovanovski, Dan Cloutier and others pair off with kids and begin scooping. The large, bright dining room has all but been cleared out, save for the newspaper-covered tables, tools and pumpkins. But it's still crammed with bodies - and it's loud. Players are weighing the merits of stenciled patterns versus freehand designs with the kids, while siblings, staff and parents mill about.

"I think we got the one with the most seeds in it," laughs 6-foot-4 Bryan Allen over the noise, pulling fist after fist of stringy, seed-heavy muck out of his pumpkin.Four-year-old partner Anthony, is dwarfed in his wheelchair underneath the hulking defenseman. Anthony is dressed up like a giant python. When asked what kind of pumpkin they've decided to carve, Anthony clams up - so Allen jumps in. "I think we're just worried about getting the stuff out of it right now, aren't we Anthony." Allen helps Anthony reach his hand in and pull even more muck out of the pumpkin, drawing a big smile.

"Oh yeah, he's really excited about meeting the players," says Anthony's mom Lee Anna, standing off against the wall observing the whole mess unfold. "That, and getting his hands gooky. He'll go home tonight talking about how Bryan Allen helped him do all the goopy stuff." Though Anthony will only be five in December, he knows about hockey because his dad teaches him. His mom says he enjoys all the excitement and meeting the players, but the pumpkin carve is about more than just that."It gives Anthony a chance to get out and feel normal and be kind of one of the 'in-group' doing a fun activity," says Lee Anna. "He's really prone to infection and this is the time in the year when he's at his best health so it's nice that we can access before winter comes."

Matt Cooke is at the next table vigorously attacking the inside of his pumpkin. He's got half his arm in there and is intently scraping away while his partner Alexander looks on. "He's a huge Canucks fan," says Alexander's dad Sandy. "He loves meeting them. It's a big day for him. "Alexander is a regular visitor to Canuck Place. He's at his third pumpkin carving and his dad says making friends with the players has had a huge impact on him. "Trevor Linden was a really great guy. He went over and visited Alexander when he was in the intensive care unit at the hospital. He thinks pretty highly of Trevor. He was pretty happy when he got traded back to the Canucks again. But I think he's having a pretty good time with Cooke over there too."

Fil Nalewajek is the director of programs and services at Canuck Place. She explains that the hospice is basically a place where children with progressive life-limiting illnesses and their families can come to rest and be cared for by a combination professional and volunteer support staff. Families can book short stays just to get away from the stress that living with an illness can bring on, use it as an intermediary between the hospital and home, or come to stay when the end of a child's life is imminent. "We try to help the child, their siblings and the parents manage the challenges they have ahead of them," says Nalewajek, taking in the chaos from a safe vantage point out of splatter range. "It's the family who incurs a lot of the burden of care out in the community and we offer the opportunity for them to take a break and know their child will have a lot of fun and be well taken care of."

Nalewajek says the kids really enjoy meeting the Canucks not only because they're famous, but because they can relate to them on a very basic level.

"The Vancouver Canucks are their heroes. They're out there playing a game, fighting a battle, not unlike the battle that they fight. And when they see the Canucks conquer their opposition, I think it inspires them to keep on trying to win their own battles. When the Vancouver Canucks come in and carve pumpkins, they can put a smile on the child's face. For an hour today they're forgetting that they have any problems - they're forgetting about the fact that they're sitting in a wheel chair and have any limitations. That's wonderful thing."

Nalewajek points to a ten-year-old boy in a wheelchair named Luke who's carving a pumpkin with Markus Naslund. Though he's regular at Canuck Place, he isn't currently staying at the hospice but asked to come today especially to be with the Canucks.

"He's going to be talking about this for weeks," says Nalewajek. "That smile you see on his face, you know it's going to be perpetuated for weeks as he tells his story about today. He's with his hero Markus Naslund, and Nalsund is focusing all of his attention on him right now. What more could a kid ask for?"

"We've got the Canucks logo here," says Luke, explaining his pumpkin design that has the team's insignia carved in the front rather than a face. "I'm going to write Markus Naslund here, and my name here, and then stars around here... It's not that scary but I like carving a cool one, more often than scary ones." Naslund is madly working his saw through a pumpkin that's rapidly losing its structural integrity for all the holes.

Luke's dad Luigi is sitting out on the stairs in the foyer just trying to keep out of the way and allow his son to enjoy himself. He says Luke has been pretty cool at home in the days leading up to today's event, but knows he's been talking about it with his friends a lot.

"One of the big things about the event, is that the kids get to do something special so they have something to talk about, because they're really limited as to what they can do," explains Luigi. "Most of these kids can't walk, they're restricted to their chairs. They can't do a lot of the stuff their friends are doing so it gives them that thing they can talk about at recess or lunch. You know: 'I met the Canucks. I met Markus Naslund and he's a really nice guy.'"

Luigi also points out that the players' visit makes the hospice a fun place to be rather than a place with only difficult or painful associations.

"That's the whole idea. When end of life comes around and you come here, you know it as a good place to be. That's the whole point of getting the kids here before they really need it. They establish a relationship with the volunteers, the nurses and all the staff, so when they do need it, it's not a foreign place. It's like, 'I know this place. It's a fun place to be.' It puts the Canucks in Canuck Place."

Associate coach Mike Johnston, who carved with 12-year-old Adam and his younger brother Aaron, says it's not just the kids that get something out of the visits. "I think sometimes we get so focused on hockey that you need an opportunity to get out and try and help other people." Johnston pauses and surveys the crowded room. Kids are running amok trying to get as many autographs as possible, or simply running amok for the sake of it. It's like Broadway during rush hour with a constant flow of wheelchairs humming from one room to the next. Most of the players have brought their own families which only adds to the commotion. Parents sit patiently off to the side talking about kids, hockey or whatever - just trying to stay out of the way. "You just take a look at the kids and their siblings and their parents when the players are in here - and seeing their reaction and the enjoyment that they have - I think that's marvelous."

When asked to give his opinion on which player is the best carver, Johnston admits it's probably Brendan Morrison, though he liked the one he did himself with Adam and Aaron. "Brendan Morrison did a great one last year. It was pretty creative though I didn't get a look at his this year."

Centre Brendan Morrison is widely held to be the most talented pumpkin artist, though several of his teammates suggest it's been his young partners that have been the creative push behind some truly masterful jack-o-lanterns. This year it was 17-year-old Bobby paired with Morrison, and he didn't disappoint doing a freehand face design of his own creation. "I like this one," says Bobby cocking his head a giving his work another look with a critical eye. "It looks pretty good."
"Me and Mo did it," he explains as Morrison puts the finishing touches on a pair of initials carved into the back of the pumpkin. "He has pretty good hands. I mean C'mon, look at it, it's pretty cool." Morrison nods his approval with a satisfied look creeping over his face - or is it a hint of smugness after realizing he's possibly retained his title for yet another season.



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