Blackhawks welcome Make-A-Wish kid to practice

CHICAGO – Lennox Hodgkinson skated around United Center like a seasoned veteran, the 7-year-old making passes and shooting with his favorite player, Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard.

“Yeah, we were talking about it. He’s seven years old and he was ripping the pill a little bit. It was cool to see,” Bedard said of Hodgkinson, whose wish of joining the Blackhawks’ skate was fulfilled by the team in partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation on Wednesday.

Lennox’s brother, King, also joined the Blackhawks for the skate.

A Nova Scotia native and Blackhawks fan, Lennox was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was three weeks old. While he undergoes daily treatments, medications and deals with frequent sickness, Lennox skates on the U9 advanced Truro Bearcats team.

“It’s been incredible experience for us,” said Lennox’s father, Neil. “His wish was to play hockey for the boys. It was pretty special to see them out there, just passing the puck around, shooting it.

“Make-A-Wish has been amazing to get us here and look after all this and the Blackhawks organization has been amazing,” he added. “We’re just grateful. I want to say once in a lifetime, but this isn’t even once in a lifetime. This is just an incredible experience for the boys and our whole family.”

Neil said Lennox became a fan of Bedard, the No. 1 pick of the Blackhawks at the 2023 NHL Draft, when Bedard won gold with Canada at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

“Basically, wherever Bedard was getting drafted, that was going to be his team,” Neil said. “We’ll play NHL 25 on PlayStation. He plays Be A Pro (where) you create your own player, so he’s on Chicago, just made the top line with Bedard, plays his position (center/right wing), so he loves that.”

Lennox’s favorite part of Wednesday?

“Me and Bedard on a 2-on-2 against King and Landon (Slaggert),” Lennox said, referring to the Blackhawks forward.

Bedard said it was a great experience for everyone.

“You kind of think about how surreal it must be for him, to get to be on an NHL rink and skate with us,” he said. “We love it. We had a lot of fun with that and obviously to get the opportunity, it’s great we’re doing that and just hope he enjoyed it and had a good time.”

The Blackhawks play the Edmonton Oilers at United Center on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS).