"And that's actually a good thing because it could mean there are fewer kids in the hospitals," said Paquette, the Canadiens' executive director of community relations and the Montreal Canadiens Children's Foundation.

MONTREAL -- Some years, Genevieve Paquette says, Montreal Canadiens players see fewer than their average of 300 or so patients during their annual holiday-season visit to local children's hospitals.

Founded in 1909, the Canadiens are hockey's oldest professional team. Their 24 Stanley Cup championships make them, by far, the North American game's most successful franchise.

With the Canadiens' deeply planted roots has come a time-honored responsibility to the community in Montreal and throughout the province of Quebec. Sixteen years after the creation of the Montreal Canadiens Children's Foundation, including donations and their program of eight (soon to be 10) outdoor ice rinks built and maintained in underprivileged districts, the Canadiens have given nearly $25 million to those in need in Quebec.

Geoff Molson knew he was buying more than a hockey team in 2009 when, as the head of a consortium, he purchased the Canadiens from George Gillett Jr. Though privately held, the Canadiens virtually are a public trust, and for the past seven years Molson has been the primary caretaker.

Molson is North America's oldest brewery, founded in 1786 by John Molson. For more than two centuries the family name has been sewn through the fabric of Montreal with hospitals, banks, schools and, for the past six decades, the Canadiens.

"It's in my family's genes to support our community," said Molson, who also serves as chairman of Molson Coors Brewing Co. and is a member of the NHL executive committee. "Go back through all the generations of Molsons who have been in Montreal and nothing has changed. It's my turn and it's my responsibility to represent the seventh generation of Molsons who continue to give back to the community. Whether it's a hospital, a bank, a school, a hockey rink, it's all for the greater good of the community and something we're obviously proud to do."

Molson's role has changed somewhat since the days of his youth, when he worshipped the team and its stars from arm's length. What hasn't changed is seeing how profoundly fans are moved by contact not just with the team's stars, but with anyone wearing the "CH" crest.

"For the past seven years I've watched a retired player like [the late] Jean Beliveau or an active player like Carey Price, and I've seen the eyes of kids light up when they have a chance to be greeted by one of these superstars," Molson said. "It gives me great satisfaction. To watch the players engage in that moment with a child shows we have good character players on our team, players who understand what it is to be a Montreal Canadien.

"We're lucky that we have a team of players who, in this market, are superheroes, really. Whenever we have a chance to leverage that to put a smile on a kid's face or the face of his parents, those are the moments when you get a lump in your throat and get a little emotional. Those are special moments, when you get that singular focus on one child who might need encouragement or a little something. A player walks in to their hospital room or writes a letter or brings a kid into the dressing room, that's extremely powerful. Today's players are busy. They want to win, but they always find time for the kid who needs it."

Paquette has been with the Canadiens for 25 years. Management largely leaves her alone to do what she does best, which is, in part, coordinating countless player appearances, memorabilia signings for charity donation or auction, food drives, blood-donor clinics, fund-raising telethons, literacy programs and hockey-themed modules in schools, working on the outdoor rink project (all are built near schools to best encourage physical activity), arranging visits to games by the underprivileged and sometimes terminally ill, and engineering the hugely popular annual visits to now three children's hospitals, something first organized by Beliveau when he was captain during the mid-1960s after players had for years dropped in more casually on sick kids.

Then there is the flood of often-heartbreaking mail that crosses her desk, much of it coming from a single parent with little means who hopes the Canadiens can spare something for a child's birthday or for Christmas.

Paquette is a member of a six-person NHL team community-relations advisory board; she speaks monthly with all of her colleagues in the League about their programs and a number of charitable NHL initiatives that run League-wide. Given the Canadiens' place in its community and their rich history, the team often is viewed by others as the gold standard, a template for how to build a foundation and organize events.

"Each market is different," Paquette said. "A hospital visit might take one form in one market and a different form in another, depending on how hockey is viewed by the community. This was [defenseman] Shea Weber's first visit to a Montreal children's hospital this month and he said it was a lot different than what he did in Nashville [as captain of the Predators].

"But each NHL market is doing amazing things, serving the needs of their own. Community relations is about knowing your community and giving back, understanding the needs, the issues, and where you can have the most impact."

In 2008 the Montreal Canadiens Children's Foundation specifically addressed the issue of childhood obesity and focused itself in large part to encourage physical activity and a healthy lifestyle in that age group.

"Our sport is about our athletes who know how important it is to be physically active," Paquette said. "We think that for this reason the message we send out has credibility and we think we can help make a difference."

As the Canadiens approach $25 million in support to those in need in Quebec, "I feel that's pretty good but there's so much more we can do," Paquette said. "And we'll continue to do to help the community."

And for all that the Canadiens do on the radar, there is much more being done behind the scenes with a phone call, a small, unannounced gift or a surprise visit for someone who's living under a dark cloud.

"We're not the type of organization that will thump our chest and say, 'Look at us.' We don't need that," Molson said. "We do it for the right reasons and that's because it's important."

Photos courtesy of Montreal Canadiens