New York Islanders ‘Surprise & Delight’ family in tough times

The Brohm Family has lived a difficult three years. Kevin Brohm was diagnosed with colon cancer two-and-a-half years ago, and after the passing of his wife unexpectedly in November, he’s raising their children Ben, 6, and Ella, 9, as a single parent.

Jon Ledecky, co-owner of the New York Islanders, heard about the Brohm family’s troubles through a mutual friend, so the family was made stop number one on this year’s “Surprise & Delight” tours by the New York Islanders.

On April 19, the trip went around Long Island to five different homes, to celebrate the Islander’s success in reaching the playoffs for the Stanley Cup.

As a part of the trip, Islanders mascot Sparky hand delivers Islanders merchandise and memorabilia to the young fans, including things like hockey sticks, helmets, and items signed by their favorite players.

“We’re definitely fans for life — this is great, this is unbelievable,” Kevin Brohm said as his children played with hockey sticks. “It means a lot, to see the smile on Ella and Ben’s faces. It gets me through. It’s hard. It’s been definitely a hard few years.”

Months ago, management for the Islanders reached out to the Brohm family to schedule the visit after hearing about his wife’s passing. Since then, Kevin Brohm kept the surprise hidden until the day came. 

“We had found out about the Brohm family through a mutual friend,” Ann Rina, the executive director of community relations for the Islanders said. “And they just told us about the situation and when we received those messages we reached out right away to see how we can help.”

“I didn’t really tell the kids if it’s gonna happen, they just knew that it was gonna be a big surprise,” Brohm said. “That’s all they knew, that the surprise was coming today. It was tough to keep the secret.”

This visit was made possible thanks to Hockey with a Heart, the Islanders’ charity initiative, which aims to build a sense of community and support causes close to fans’ hearts. 

“It’s nice to know that generosity still exists,” Brohm said. “And I’m gonna pay it forward, and continue to pay it forward. And the kids will do the same.”

Hockey with a Heart puts 50 charities to feature across the stadium, including on the scoreboard. The charities can pick clients and suggest them to the Islanders as candidates for the visit, after which staff begin planning the big surprise.

“People are dealing with so much in their lives,” Ledecky said. “We’ve been able to give them all sorts of memorabilia, including sticks, with the most important thing is they’ll get a chance to go to the game. Being able to bring that joy to this family is really important to us.

“We’re very grateful to those organizations for working with us, we thank the community for supporting the foundation, and we thank our fans for being there and being so loyal to us,” Ledecky said.

The other four stops on the Surprise & Delight tour visited families in Holbrook, Kings Park, Farmingdale, and North Massapequa for families who have also suffered through illnesses or losses.

To see the charities that are partnered with Hockey with a Heart, visit NHL.com/islanders/community/hockey-with-a-heart.