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The unlikely star of the Ottawa Senators’ miraculous playoff drive will use his goalie mask this season to honour Jonathan Pitre, the iron-willed “butterfly child” who became an inspiration for the hockey team.

Goalie Andrew Hammond’s new mask features a large red-and-black butterfly beside the stylized initials JP on the back of his helmet.

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When I saw it, I had to look twice to realize what it was and what it meant.

“I wanted him to feel special and let him know how much he has inspired me, the fans of Ottawa, and the entire hockey world,” Hammond told the Citizen in an email exchange.

Pitre, 15, suffers from one of the most painful conditions known to medicine, Epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic disease that causes his skin to endlessly blister, shear and scar. In severe cases such as Pitre’s, it hurts to walk, eat and bathe. Those who suffer from the disease are sometimes known as butterfly children because their skin is so fragile.

But the disease has not stopped Pitre, a Grade 10 student, from helping other people with EB — he has raised more than $100,000 for the EB charity, Debra Canada — or from pursuing his passion for sports. Pitre wants to become a hockey scout or sports broadcaster.