Former Maple Leafs employee recalls the heartwarming time him and Luke Schenn broke SickKids rules

Watching Luke Schenn hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup makes me think about the time Luke Schenn and I broke the rules at Sick Kids Hospital - A THREAD

— Jon Sinden (@JonSinden) September 30, 2020

Rewind to a number of years ago, when I was running the Leafs Social Media team. That job was filled with perks, but also some really tough days as well.

— Jon Sinden (@JonSinden) September 30, 2020

Every year, the Leafs visit Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. Rain or shine, winning season or losing season, the players always show up. It’s written in contracts that X amount of public appearances are mandatory but the Sick Kids visit is one no player wanted to miss.

— Jon Sinden (@JonSinden) September 30, 2020

With bags full of Carleton The Bear toys and other hockey related Leafs merch, the players break into smaller groups and visit the rooms of kids who were not able to come to the mixer.

— Jon Sinden (@JonSinden) September 30, 2020

So Luke Schenn and I got paired together for the phase 2 part of the Sick Kids visit. At this point I believe Luke was 21 or so and just got named or was about to be named an assistant captain of the Leafs under Ron Wilson. He was really showing growth on the ice,

— Jon Sinden (@JonSinden) September 30, 2020

Or some hockey talk with the kids or parents, and of course signing autographs when asked. We visited four or five rooms and then we walked in to our final room of the day and we were not prepared. There was a small child, a boy, about 7 or 8 years old...

— Jon Sinden (@JonSinden) September 30, 2020

My heart sank. I thought what a cruel world we live in that this child has to go through this. I looked at Luke and he seemed calm and right when I was about to ask him if he was ok, the father of the child popped out of a chair and introduced himself to Luke.

— Jon Sinden (@JonSinden) September 30, 2020

I pictured them not being able to hug after a win. My heart was aching for this dad. Luke and him were winding down their pleasantries, and the dad asked for a photo. Now remember, the staff hammered home NO PHOTOS. They - Luke and the dad - looked at me.

— Jon Sinden (@JonSinden) September 30, 2020

This phone hurts this child in some way?’ ‘What if I break the rules and the entire Leafs organization gets blamed?’ I pictured my face on the front page of every news site and the years of hate getting sent my way. I was getting dizzy and about to fall over.

— Jon Sinden (@JonSinden) September 30, 2020

I lost it (on the inside) and was barely holding in the emotions, the sobbing that I wanted to so badly to release. Then Luke gave me a head nod and mouthed ‘it’s okay’. We were doing this. This photo was getting snapped. And like that, it was taken.

— Jon Sinden (@JonSinden) September 30, 2020

Still sometimes just kids themselves. So when I saw Luke Schenn, now 30 years old, lift the Stanley Cup the other night I thought of that boy, that family, that moment, and sometimes it’s ok to break the rules. Fin.

— Jon Sinden (@JonSinden) September 30, 2020