Danica Cole usually comes to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario for surgeries, but Friday morning she came to shake hands with her favourite All-Star players.

The seventeen-year-old goaltender for her school’s hockey team joined a star-studded roster at CHEO, which included Hockey Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine, Ottawa Senators’ Colin Greening, and the Philadelphia Flyers’ Sean Couturier and Matt Read.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman thanked Ottawa for hosting a “spectacular” All-Star Weekend and The Ottawa Senators’ owner, governor and chairman Eugene Melnyk highlighted the $65 million dollars donated to charities in the region by the Sens Foundation.

“It shows that the community stands behind the kids,” Danica’s mother, Jackie Cole, said. “Important people are coming to see them and encourage them to get better.”

The main event was the unveiling of the NHL All-Star Legacy Playroom, a fun zone for sick kids at the hospital. It was constructed with donations from the NHL, the Ottawa Senators, tech company Cisco, and LaFontaine’s charity Companions in Courage.

“(Kids) can forget about their pain for a little bit,” said LaFontaine, who has spent a lot of time in hospitals due to a series of concussions caused by the game. “That’s a real assist in life. That’s a goal.”

The state-of-the-art yellow-painted room on the fifth floor of the hospital is stocked with all kinds of tech goodies, from an online conferencing system–where kids can connect with friends, family, and teachers– to video game consuls and a crafts table. Children can connect with patients in other hospital playrooms in Calgary and North Carolina.

But probably the most exciting part is the chance to digitally connect with the kids’ favourite players on the conference system.

LaFontaine and Couturier spent 15 minutes talking to kids in other hospital play rooms via a live camera and Bettman chatted with a girl laying in bed who’s being treated at the hospital.

LaFontaine later stepped outside the play room to highlight concussions on the ice, saying his life has been severely impacted by them. He left the game 14 years ago because of the severe head injuries.

“It’s a serious epidemic and it’s not going away.”

The Governor General of Canada David Johnston said Thursday that fighting and head shots had no place in the national sport. In reaction, LaFontaine seemed to agree. He said Friday that although the league was making many changes, more needed to be done to “protect the heads and necks of young players.”

This ex-NHLer said he suffered concussions in the double-digits, two of which sent him to hospital for a six-month period.

“Why should anyone in any great sport have to be concerned about their livelihood?”

LaFontaine’s organization has helped to construct other legacy play rooms in Boston, Montreal, and Pittsburgh.

Connor Maxwell, a five-year-old wearing a disposable mouth mask due of his low immune system, had a blast during the All-Star visit. He wandered around the play room, chatting up players and getting hugged by the mischievous mascots.

He’s getting a CT bone scan today to see if his ewing sarcoma, a form of cancer, receded. Connor is often at CHEO, where he can be treated until his 18th birthday.

“It’s wonderful to have some distraction–any distraction–for the kids,” his mother, Jeanine said. She drives the two hours from her home to CHEO every six weeks for Connors’ chemotherapy treatment and said the playroom will make the situation more bearable.

Danica stayed in the play room for hours, meeting Coutourier and getting NHL gear like a hat and jersey. Her mother looked on from the doorway.

“It’s been a great day,” she said. “You can tell just by looking at the huge smile on her face.”