A nine-year-old Whitecourt boy is back in Alberta after a whirlwind adventure most hockey fans can only dream of.
Jaxon Melnychuk and his parents spent the weekend in Buffalo and had the chance to attend the 2016 NHL Entry Draft after winning a contest.
His mother Stacy Crossland entered the Bauer Draft Party contest online. She submitted a photograph of him that appeared in a local newspaper.
Her submission also included a note that read: “This is my son Jax. His arm is paralyzed yet that doesn’t stop him from playing hockey. This picture means perseverance & hard work, those are the two things that describe hockey. Jax embodies the spirit of hockey the way the game is meant to be enjoyed.”
They won. She and her husband, along with Jaxon, went to Buffalo for the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
“I kept telling myself it was fake. It wasn’t happening,” Crossland told Global News before the trip.
Complications during Jaxon’s birth meant doctors had to use a special manoeuvre to bring him into the world.
“It damaged all of the five nerves in his brachial plexus, so he had a pretty severe injury and at five months, he had a nerve graft. So they took nerves from the backs of his legs and grafted them into his brachial plexus,” Crossland explained.
Jaxon required specially-designed gloves to play hockey. So the family went to Bauer and the company delivered. They provided Jaxon with one pair of gloves he could use now and another he could grow into.
On top of being a huge hockey fan, he also plays baseball and hopes to motivate other would-be athletes.
“If you have an injury like me, don’t be scared to try sports,” he said.
In addition to being whisked away to upstate New York, Jaxon and his family received $500 in spending money, a swag bag and tickets to the Bauer VIP Draft Party on Thursday night.
They also got to meet Buffalo Sabres centre Jack Eichel and the number one draft pick, Auston Matthews.
*Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Tuesday, June 21, 2016. It was updated on Monday, June 27, 2016 to include new pictures of Jaxon at the draft.
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