Sidney Crosby Takes Ice With Kenya's Only Hockey Team In First-Ever Game
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A hockey team from Kenya was flown to Canada to play their first-ever game. Right before they took the ice, they were joined by two new teammates – Sidney Crosby and Nate MacKinnon.
Tim Hortons posted a video on Monday, which featured the only hockey team in Kenya.
"I had no idea what ice hockey was. I saw guys playing a game, but I couldn't understand how they were moving. They were sliding, that was not running. It was my dream to one day move like them," one player said.
"I had to try out something new. Ice hockey is fun because when we're at the rink, nothing matters. The whole world stops," another said.
The problem with being the only hockey team around is that there is no one to play. So, Tim Hortons flew them to Canada to play their first game.
When they entered the locker room, they found personalized jerseys hanging in their lockers. After a pre-game speech, the players were shocked when Crosby and MacKinnon walked through the door wearing the same jersey.
That's when the reality set in that the NHL duo would be skating alongside them in their first-ever game.
"Sidney, seeing my favorite player coming through the door wearing our jersey, it felt like I was in heaven," one player said.
"It is such an honor for them to do this for us. I can't hold back my tears," another said.
Crosby and MacKinnon also got a lot out of the experience.
"That's the best part about the game is just how it reaches so many people, in a place like Kenya where you wouldn't think there is even ice," Crosby said. "To meet people from different places and to share the game that we love to play, I think I had just as much fun as any of those guys did today."
"I didn't really know what to expect, but I thought those guys looked great. It's cool to see the genuine excitement that they had and it got us really fired up," MacKinnon said.
Tim Hortons has also helped to fund a youth hockey league in Kenya.