Young Crosby fan attends Pens game, a gift from a generous stranger

By Yvette d'Entremont The Weekly News
SACKVILLE - Benjamin Kerrivan recently came back from an amazing trip he never would have taken if not for an unfortunate incident last year.
The 10-year-old's saga began last summer when a teenager ripped a newly autographed Sidney Crosby card from his hand during Crosby's Stanley Cup visit in Dartmouth. The thief ran into the crowd and the youngster was left devastated.
In the weeks that followed, media attention prompted Pittsburgh Penguins season tickets holder Tim Wilkie to offer the Lower Sackville youngster a pair of tickets to any Penguins game he chose.
Over the Christmas holidays, the American stranger from New Jersey sent Kerrivan the tickets for the game he'd selected.
On Jan. 31, Kerrivan and his mom Tammy were in the stands at Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena to watch the Penguins defeat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in a shootout.
"It was everything I imagined it would be," the young hockey fan said.
He and his mother waited outside for two hours before the game to watch as the players filed into the arena. Kerrivan managed to get the signatures of two Penguins players on his jersey before the game started.
Afterward, he and his mom waited outside for another three hours to add Crosby's signature and those of another two players to Kerrivan's jersey.
"I went to talk to him (Crosby). I said I'm the kid who got the card stolen, and I said 'I sent you a letter,' and he said 'I got that,'" Kerrivan recalled, adding that moment was probably the highlight of his trip.
The only down side was that waiting patiently in the cold for so long to nab Crosby's signature meant that Kerrivan missed Penguins goal tender Marc-Andre Fleury, whose autograph he was also very anxious to have.
"Everybody was really nice in Pittsburgh, but it was really cold," Kerrivan said.
Kerrivan's mom said Benjamin will be sending Wilkie a thank you letter. She has already sent him photographs of Benjamin enjoying his time in the Pennsylvanian capital.
"If I could say something to him (Wilkie), I'd say thank you and that he's really nice," Benjamin said.
ydentremont@hfxnews.ca