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The following was submitted by community member Isle in Dixie, who wanted to share a personal story about Lubomir Visnovsky after the former Islanders defenseman signed with Slovan Bratislava of the KHL yesterday. We thank Isle in Dixie for his story and great pictures. And we once again thank Lubo for being Lubo.
Lubomir Visnovsky will always hold a special place in our family's hearts due to the big heart he showed us not once, but twice.
My son is now a Varsity High School defenseman in Tennessee. In October of 2013, he was beginning his second season of Bantam hockey. On the first shift of the first game of the season, he was involved in a hard hockey play and as a result, broke his humerus bone in his arm. He ended up missing two months of the season.
Not long after he broke his arm, we went to the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville to watch the Islanders play the Predators. During warm ups, Lubo came up to my son and in between the glass asked him what happened to his arm. My son told him briefly and Lubo told him to heal up and do not worry about being a smaller d-man. He gave my son a puck and then posed for this picture:
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My son was thrilled with this interaction.
Fast forward to March of this year and again we were at the Islanders game at Bridgestone Arena versus the Nashville Predators. During warm-ups, guess who came up to us again to make contact?
Lubomir Visnovsky.
This time my wife was the one who was all excited. She could not believe that the same player would take his picture with our son in almost the same spot that he had a year and a half prior. Another puck to my son and a brief conversation of well wishes took place after the photo.
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Lubomir Visnovsky is an example of a professional athlete who "gets it". He took a minute out of his warm-up time and life to make a difference in a young hockey players' life. My family will always be a fan of the "Silver Fox". He may not be the biggest of players in terms of height and width, but his heart makes up for it. Thank you for the kindness you showed my son Lubo. We wish you the best going forward.