Veronica Neilson’s Grade 3 class is often a lively place, but when the letters from Tyler Bertuzzi arrived, it was a hub of activity.

Neilson’s students at Queen Elizabeth II Public School had written to Bertuzzi, a first-year NHL player with the Detroit Red Wings, as part of a project. With help from Angela Bertuzzi, Tyler’s mother and an educational assistant for the class, students learned the player’s back story, from his childhood and early days of minor hockey to his time with the OHL’s Guelph Storm to his pro turn with the Wings organization.

The also learned about hard work, perseverance and about being a good sport. Then they wrote to congratulate him on his first NHL goal, scored against the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 14.

The students were overjoyed recently when they realized Bertuzzi had written back not just to the class, but to each of them, individually.

"It was actually quite nice," beamed eight-year-old Darius Larcher.

"It was awesome," added nine-year-old Landon Pamser. "He is a kind person."

Neilson recalled the excitement as students took their individual letters and found corners of the classroom to settle in and read them, before sharing the contents with one another.

"They were ecstatic," she said. "They had hoped to get a message from his mom or a letter to the class in general. No one expected to get an individual letter back, but Tyler took lots of time to do it and sent back their letter, with his letter back to them, and responded personally to the comments the kids made."

Larcher had asked Bertuzzi how long he had played hockey and when he knew he wanted to be a pro player. Since the age of four, Bertuzzi replied, adding that he knew immediately he wanted to play in the NHL.

The youngster was all smiles as he read the end of the message – "Thanks for the letter, Bud."

Bertuzzi’s efforts have encouraged Larcher to follow his own dreams. He’d like to make video games.

"You have to work hard," he said.

Pamser hopes to be a famous YouTuber, an ambition he shared with Bertuzzi in writing.

"He played hockey all day, because he really wanted to be an NHL player and he really worked hard to be an NHL player and now, he’s an NHL player on a hockey team," Pamser said. "I have to try hard, too."

Members of Neilson’s Grade 3 class also include Nolan Barry, Nicholas Carmichael, Damien Caron-Lasalle, Jasper Corbeil, Emma Dunbabin, Aurora Flear, Mariah Gilbank, Alexandros Godin, Chloie Hildebrand, Mya Jette, Riley Mishibinijima, Joshua Ouellette, Zoey Pigeau, Madalene Taylor and Kaitlyn Toulouse-Janssen.

Neilson was pleased to see her students make connections between Bertuzzi’s experiences and their own lives.

"We heard stories about how they didn’t really do a lot of trips, or how he had injuries and couldn’t play, and all the hard work and working out during the summers, how his friends were off doing fun things, but he wouldn’t be able to do those, because he had this mission to become the NHL player that he is," Neilson said.

Students were surprised to learn Bertuzzi, who comes across as confident and composed on the ice and in interviews, is actually quite shy.

"You would never know that," Neilson said. "But you can see that he’s a caring individual who wanted to personally respond to each of these kids. It was neat to find out a bit about his personality through the process, too."

Angela Bertuzzi was raised in a hockey family. Her brother Todd, Tyler’s uncle, was a star for the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves before he, too, skated for Guelph and went on to play more than 1,000 games in the NHL.

With Tyler embarking on his own professional career, she said, it’s important not to forget the community he came from.

"Tyler has always remained very humble, very kind, and has always been very thoughtful," she said. "I grew up in the hockey life, with my brother Todd playing in the NHL, and we feel if you do reach that level, it’s important that you always give back."

Even she was surprised, however, to learn how much time Tyler devoted to the project.

"I had gone to Detroit to go visit him for his birthday – first time in seven years I got to spend his birthday with him – and when we arrived there, he said, ‘By the way, Mom, I have letters.’

"I said, ‘What do you mean, you have letters? You mean you wrote all the kids back?’ He said, ‘Yeah, it took me a week.’ I was really proud of him for taking the time to do that.

"The thing is, Tyler’s no different from these kids. They all have dreams and I have shared with them a lot of Tyler’s journey through the school system, through hockey, through all of that stuff. It’s just teaching them that yes, dreams can come true, and you have to work hard and keep believing and when you’ve got your parents and everybody around you supporting you, you can do it."

bleeson@postmedia.com

Twitter: @ben_leeson