Kesler Surprised His Young Fan
- Updated: November 5, 2017
(Ryan Kesler surprised one of his young fans by sitting next to her while she watched his Anaheim Ducks play Friday night. What an incredible moment, and CaliSports News has the exclusive inside scoop. Photo courtesy of April Whalen.)
Quick. Think of who is your favorite hockey player.
Now, imagine the following: you’re an 11-year-old fan. You flew some 1,300 miles with your parents to another country to attend your favorite team’s games, and out from nowhere, that favorite player of yours sits down next to you and watches one of those games with you. For real. How crazy is that?
That’s basically what happened Friday night at Honda Center for one lucky 11-year-old Canadian from British Columbia named Mackinley Whalen who loves the Anaheim Ducks, and her favorite player is Ryan Kesler.
Yes, Kesler sat next to Mackinley during the game against Nashville in which the Predators won, 5-3. But for Mackinley and her family, the game itself and its final score were meaningless compared to the experience of sitting with their hockey hero, all courtesy of the Ducks’ very accommodating and gracious front office staff.
The Ducks arranged to keep the seat next to Mackinley reserved for Kesler, who showed up dressed in a blue suit, holding a big bucket of popcorn, a soda, and some Ducks souvenirs, all as gifts for one extremely shocked young fan.
Mackinley had no idea that her favorite player would occupy that seat next to her, and when Kesler arrived, she started crying. According to her mother, April Whalen, the youngster was literally shaking from the excitement. Kesler and Mackinley then shared laughs and enjoyed a great conversation together as the Ducks’ star sat next to his young fan for almost the entire first period of the game.
April reported to CaliSports News that the conversations focused on Kesler’s upcoming return to Anaheim’s line-up, and about Mackinley’s season of playing in youth hockey leagues back in Canada.
“Kesler was great. Mackinley loved talking to him. They were like two old friends chatting and every now and then Mackinley would say, ‘I’m dying here.’ Mackinley told him that she thought Ryan Getzlaf does too many snot rockets. Kesler died laughing,” April told CaliSports News. April gave similar accolades to Kesler on her social media.
“Kesler was beyond kind to her. Nothing but class,” April Tweeted. “He laughed at all of her stories,” Mackinley’s mother posted on Facebook.
The Ducks filmed Kesler surprising Mackinley and will reportedly publish that footage in an upcoming video. Stay tuned!
To understand how all of that happened, we need to travel in time to when Kesler still played for the Vancouver Canucks. Back then, Mackinley, who grew up near Vancouver, became an avid fan of the Canucks. Kesler soon became her favorite NHL player, as at that time the gritty center was one of the Canucks’ top forwards.
When Kesler signed with Anaheim in the summer of 2014, Mackinley instantly became a Ducks fan.
In January 2016, the Whalens flew to Anaheim to attend home games of Mackinley’s beloved Ducks. During that visit, Anaheim’s front office staff arranged for Kesler to meet with Mackinley outside of Honda Center, where he autographed her Ducks gear.
(Ryan Kesler with Mackinley Whalen in 2016. Photo courtesy of April Whalen.)
Mackinley had become one lucky hockey fan. It was also during that visit to Anaheim that this CaliSports News writer met Mackinley, and became friends with the Whalens. That happened because the Whalens advertised on the Ducks’ Facebook page that they had an extra ticket to a game. Rabbi Rabbs saw the advertisement, and immediately contacted the family with great interest in their ticket.
Next scene, the then-future Ducks beat writer for CaliSports News, using the Whalen’s extra ticket, met the family at Honda Center for a game against the Ottawa Senators.
(Mackinley Whalen and Rabbi Rabbs during warm-ups prior to a game against the Ottawa Senators in January 2016. Photo courtesy of April Whalen.)
That’s the background to the story. Now, fast forward to summer 2017, when the Whalens decided to return to Anaheim for another family trip which would include attending two more Ducks games. Mackinley’s parents, April and Patrick, purchased tickets to the games to be played on Nov. 1 and 3.
Once again, the Whalens invited their favorite writer at CaliSports News to meet them at the Nov. 1 game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. And of course, Rabbi Rabbs accepted their invitation, and reunited with that family in time for pregame warm-ups.
(Prior to the Nov. 1 game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. From left to right: Patrick Whalen, Mackinley Whalen, Rabbi Rabbs. Photo courtesy of April Whalen.)
As for Mackinley, when her parents had purchased the tickets, the youngster was thrilled that she would return to Anaheim, but her excitement turned to sadness when the news later broke that Kesler was still recovering from surgery, and would not play during the Whalen’s visit.
Upon learning that sad news, Mackinley wrote a heartwarming “get well soon” letter to her favorite player, and mailed it care of the Ducks. At the game on Nov. 1, the youngster admitted that she is far more of a fan of Kesler than she is of the Ducks. More on that later.
What happened next was amazing. The Ducks front office wrote to April and Patrick saying it had read Mackinley’s letter, and in response, the organization would arrange for Kesler to surprise the 11-year-old by sitting next to her during the Nov. 3 game, and that until then, his doing so had to be kept a secret from Mackinley.
The only people that knew in advance were those that worked for the Ducks’ organization, Mackinley’s parents, and Rabbi Rabbs with the exclusive scoop for CaliSports News, the best place on the Internet to visit for insider information. So be sure to bookmark CaliSports News, and follow Rabbi Rabbs for updates regarding the Ducks.
In any event, when Kesler surprised one of his biggest fans, Mackinley enjoyed the time of her life, as would any 11-year-old fan sitting next to their favorite player, as would most of us reading this article. Sometimes dreams do come true.
Now for the scoop on what Mackinley told CaliSports News. She said she enjoys attending games much more so in Anaheim than in Vancouver, because the Ducks’ organization has been so incredibly accommodating to her.
(Mackinley with a representative of the Anaheim Ducks. Photo courtesy of Rabbi Rabbs.)
Whereas, she reported that Vancouver’s employees were the complete opposite. For instance, the Ducks and Honda Center permit Mackinley to hold her many signs which she has brought to games and has held next to the glass by the ice during warm-ups, even though her own seats were not located in those seating sections.
However in Vancouver, when Mackinley held a sign next to the glass, employees approached her, and told her because those were not her seats, she could not stand in front of them. The Canucks’ gestapo even threatened that if Mackinley refused to leave, that the employees would remove the 11-year-old from the building.
Nevertheless, despite all of those polar opposites in customer service, Mackinley said that if Kesler were ever to return to the Canucks, she would easily become a bigger fan of Vancouver’s team than of Anaheim’s.
For Mackinley, she’s all about her hero Kesler regardless of where he plays. However, Kesler has a no-trade clause in his long-term contract, and is not leaving the Ducks any time soon.
That is just fine with Mackinley who enjoys her visits to Anaheim so much that she told CaliSports News that she wants to live in Anaheim. Although April said there is zero chance that the Whalens will move to SoCal, do not rule out Mackinley’s wish, as again, sometimes dreams do come true.
Final note: Mackinley is popular not only with Kesler, but with other past and current Anaheim players.
During warm-ups prior to that 2016 game against the Senators, Clayton Stoner, who at that time played for the Ducks, flipped a puck intended for Mackinley over the glass. Rabbi Rabbs caught that puck (one-handed, thank you very much), and immediately gave it to the young fan.
Before this past week’s game against the Maple Leafs, Logan Shaw flipped a puck to Mackinley, and that time she caught it herself. Rabbi Rabbs, who stood next to her, witnessed Shaw’s flip.
Several Anaheim players have given to Mackinley their autographs, and then there is the amazing moment, when Kevin Bieksa while on the ice, smiled for a photo with Mackinley, when the Ducks played in Vancouver.
(Photo courtesy of April Whalen.)
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One Comment
About Rabbi Rabbs
Chris Haislet
November 8, 2017 at 7:50 am
This reminds me of the time, when I was just a young boy, on vacation in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, at the Grocery, getting food for our vacation cabin.
As I walked around the aisle, I looked up into the face of Bobby Orr… shopping with HIS family. I got to meet the original Great One, who spent the better part of a half our talking to me and my family, signing autographs and snapping pictures with me, sitting on his knee and on his shoulders. The following winter we were sent two sets of tickets to see him play and have hot cocoa with him and other players. He remains my hero to this day. I wish I could find the Christmas cards we received from his family…
More players in today’s sports world should do these sorts of things. It would spread so much Goodwill…