NHL Superstar Alex Ovechkin Skates With Lymphoma Patient

Recently, 16 year old hockey player Sam Jacobson, who has been diagnosed with acute T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma and is undergoing chemotherapy treatment for the disease, got the thrill of a lifetime when he received a video message during a hockey game from his hockey hero, All-Star Washington Capitals right winger and team captain Alexander Ovechkin.

Ovechkin had pre-recorded a video message saying that he was inviting Jacobson and his family to the Washington area as Ovechkin's guests for two days as part of the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Jacobson and family arrived via limo to the Capitals' practice facility, where Sam found a stall in the locker room devoted to him, stocked with brand new hockey equipment (which had been donated by equipment maker Bauer).

On the first day, Jacobson hit the ice with Ovechkin and some other Washington Capitals, including Jason Chimera and Karl Azner, among others, picking up some pointers from the pros along the way and scoring a few scrimmage goals to boot.

Later, Sam and his family attended a pair of Capitals home games and was fortunate to spend some more time with the always affable Ovechkin in the locker room after the game. In one of them, Ovechkin scored the overtime game-winning goal, and he gifted the stick he scored with to Jacobson

Sam's entire trip was filmed by ESPN for SportsCenter’s yearly “My Wish” series.

You can see Sam's experience by visiting the coverage provided by the popular Russian hockey blog (in English) Russian Machine Never Breaks.