On Wednesday, December 6th, 2023, Sean and Jake from HNiNY along with Jay Belsky of Floored Media attended the 16th Annual Companions in Courage Santa Connection. The event was dreamt to life by Islanders legend Pat LaFontaine, who wanted children in hospitals to have access to the same holiday festivities as everyone else.
LaFontaine’s charity, Companions in Courage, works to connect hospitalized children with their family and friends, and heroes. This year, Santa connected with over 100 children all over the country through zoom. There are 15 total hospitals involved, some of which include Wolfson Children’s Hospital, Atlantic Health System, Cohen Children’s Hospital, Mount Sinai Pediatrics, UNC Children’s Hospital, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Oishei Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and many more children’s hospitals all over the U.S. and Canada.
Pat LaFontaine’s work touches every NHL city in North America, leaving an impact that is far more meaningful than any hockey game.
Since the pandemic the event has operated through zoom, and this year Santa sat down at Connoisseur Media in Farmingdale, NY. Connoisseur is home to radio stations like 103.1 Max FM, 94.3 The Shark, KJOY 98.3, Walk 97.5, and WHLI 104.7 FM. Patrick Shea from Walk 97.5 said how special the Santa Connection event is, “we couldn’t be more pleased to have our relationship with Companions in Courage… now it’s almost two decades where we’re able to make Christmas a little bit cheerier for the kids. I mean, everybody needs a Merry Christmas and we couldn’t be more happy to be a part of this.”
“To be able to have Santa come into their world for 10 minutes and share some of their hopes and dreams with Santa is one of the most special things that you can do during the holidays,” said CiC Executive Director Jim Johnson. Pat LaFonatine’s work touches every NHL city in North America, leaving an impact that is far more meaningful than any hockey game.
LaFontaine, a Hockey Hall of Famer, has 1013 points in 865 games with the Islanders, Sabres and Rangers. His 1.17 points per game are the most for any American-born player ever. The 3rd overall pick by the Islanders in the 1983 NHL Draft lived up to all the hype, as he sits top-five in Islanders history in goals, hat-tricks and points per game.
These kids, though, are most likely unaware of his hockey prowess. To them, he’s just the man that brings them Santa on Christmas. It’s hard to find a better impact than that.
16th Annual Companions in Courage Santa Connection
See below for more great charity events hosted by LaFontaine’s Companions in Courage!
Companions in Courage 20th Annual Golf Classic
2023 Runner’s Edge Main St Mile
Catch Hockey Night in New York with hosts Sean Cuthbert and Stefen Rosner live from Floored Media in Rockville Centre Sunday nights at 8PM ET throughout the season.