Plenty of service men and women were in attendance for the New York Islanders’ annual Military Appreciation Night on Thursday for the Isles’ tilt with the Carolina Hurricanes and they were treated to quite the night.
Ahead of the pre-game warm-ups, the service men and women in attendance for the game lined up and welcomed the Islanders to the ice, who were rocking some special camouflage jerseys for the warm-ups.
The team and the fans honoured war veterans and current armed service members with a moment of silence before the game.
Following the moment of silence John Tavares and Justin Faulk met at centre ice for the ceremonial face-off, where the puck was dropped by Charlie, a black lab in training with America’s VetDogs.
Charlie was joined by members of the U.S. Army Special Forces group out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and he did a great job with the ceremonial puck drop.
The Islanders made sure to make the rest of the night enjoyable for everyone in attendance as they went on to win 6-4.
(H/T Instagram/ny_islanders)
