Bobcats Visit Children's Hospital

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Members of the Quinnipiac University men's ice hockey team traveled to Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital to donate over 650 stuffed animals on Wednesday, June 4. The collection of the stuffed animals began on February 8, 2008 at the TD Banknorth Sports Center when Bobcat fans participated in a "Teddy Bear Toss" during the first intermission of Quinnipiac's game against Yale University.

"Quinnipiac emphasizes community involvement," director of athletic promotions and ticketing Eric Grgurich said. "We are fortunate to be able to give back to the community. This event was a great example of a collaborative effort on behalf of Quinnipiac University, Bobcat fans, Yale-New Haven Hospital, Hamden Youth Hockey and the Hamden Police Department."

The initiative was originally put into motion as part of a program to benefit "Don's Hat Rack". The charity, named in honor of Donald Perrotti by his family, is located at Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital where Perrotti spent six years of his life while battling Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare bone cancer. Members of Hamden Youth Hockey, in which Perrotti played for most of his youth, were part of the evening's event as on-ice collectors of the stuffed animals.

Men's ice hockey captain Dan Henningson, seniors David Marshall and Chris Myers as well as sophomores Zach Hansen and Pat McGann represented Quinnipiac who, along with Hamden Youth Hockey and the Hamden Police Department, helped to collect the stuffed animals. The Hamden Police Department also donated over 100 Teddy Bears at the TD Banknorth Sports Center that evening.

The five players spent most of Wednesday morning handing out the stuffed animals to a number of young patients in the Infusion Center who were receiving chemotherapy. Henningson spent a few minutes speaking with a patient about Halo on PlayStation while the rest of his teammates interacted with the patients and staff of the ward.

In addition to the handing of the toys on Wednesday, approximately 200 of the stuffed animals will be donated to Yale-New Haven Hospital's "Day of Remembrance", a program to benefit the families of patients at the hospital that passed away recently.

"This is an exciting event," Marshall said. "I was happy to be chosen as the team representative at the start of this, and I'm very happy to be involved with this now. This was a fun day."

Marshall, Myers and Hansen were greeted at one point by a young patient eager to be presented with several items.

"That was classic," Marshall explained. "He rushed right over, grabbed three or four teddy bears and ran back to his mom. That absolutely made my day."

WTNH 8 Sports News anchor John Pierson was on hand to talk to several of Quinnipiac's student-athletes. Footage and interviews can be seen on Wednesday's 6 p.m., 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. broadcasts.