Garden of Dreams foundation

On Tuesday, January 26, the New York Rangers and Garden of Dreams Foundation hosted a very special dream experience for 8-year-old Liam Traynor of Blauvelt, NY.

Liam, the ultimate Rangers fan, joined his family, including twin sister Shannon, for the Rangers practice at the MSG Training Center that day. Upon entering the rink area, the family was greeted by Rangers goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, one of Liam’s favorite Rangers. Henrik presented each member of the Traynor family with personalized jerseys which they wore proudly for the entire day.

During practice, Liam sat close to the glass next to Rangers legend Adam Graves, making sure to wave to every player on the team. Liam even got a special wave back from his friend, Henrik, who was standing in goal.

Following practice, Liam was again surprised by Lundqvist who came off the ice in full gear and presented Liam with the same goalie stick he had practiced with. Several Rangers soon followed in introducing themselves to Liam and his family including, Michael Del Zotto (who later came back and presented Liam and twin sister Shannon with autographed sticks of his own), Marian Gaborik, Chris Drury, Marc Staal, Ryan Callahan,  Brian Boyle, Rangers legend Mark Messier and Head Coach, John Tortorella.

Liam’s dream continued the next day when he and his family were invited to watch the Rangers take on the Carolina Hurricanes at MSG.

Prior to the game, Liam was given “VIP” treatment from the Rangers and Garden of Dreams. The Traynor family enjoyeda private meet and greet with Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti, then they sat rink side to watch the Blueshirts warm-up. If this wasn’t exciting enough, many of Liam’s heroes acknowledged his presence by hitting the glass and handing him game practice pucks.

With Liam’s excitement at an all-time high after warm-ups, he and his family then traveled to the tenth floor of Madison Square Garden where a private, catered suite was reserved for them to watch the game.

During the game, the Liam and his family  met the Rangers all-time leading scorer, Rod Gilbert, and spent time taking in the action with Adam Graves.

"The two days that was provided for Liam is something that not only Liam will remember, but our whole family will remember," said Liam's dad, Rick.  "The Garden of Dreams Foundation and New York Rangers were able to provide a little boy with so much pleasure and happiness that words simply cannot describe.  This is something Liam will literally talk about in some way or form almost every day."