On a night meant to honour P.K. Subban, the former Montreal Canadiens defenceman put the spotlight on someone else.
There, in front of 21,000 screaming fans, seven-year-old Mila Goolab had her moment.
Goolab joined Subban on the ice when he was honoured at the Bell Centre Thursday.
"He said, 'I was going to cry, but when I saw you smiling, it helped me to not cry,'" Mila recounted.
Mila accompaigned Subban as a representative of the countless children who have been helped by the his foundation.
"To see my daughter go out on the ice, to hear people chanting her name in the Bell Centre... it was surreal," Mila's father Kevin Goolab told CTV News.
"It was his night, he didn't have to bring my daughter onto the ice with him, but he shared it with her."
At 17 months old, Mila was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, a rare inflammation of the spinal chord.
During treatment, she had her P.K. Subban doll by her side and wouldn't miss a game, watching in the ward.
And although his playing career is over, Subban says his support for the hospital will not end.
"I'm looking forward to spending more time in the city and being able to do more things, specifically for the hospital," Subban told reporters on Thursday.
For Mila and her family, it means help getting through her treatments with someone she described as her best friend.
