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A two-time Stanley Cup champion has become a real-life hero to a five-year-old Vancouver Island boy recently diagnosed with brain tumours.

Two months after an MRI revealed two new tumours in his brain, Memphis Savage met National Hockey League superstar Sidney Crosby at a private meet-and-greet Saturday, hours before the Pittsburgh Penguins played the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena.

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“I was hoping and praying but I had no idea it was going to happen,” said Memphis’s dad Cole Savage, who reached out to the Penguins in January to see if there was any chance his son could meet their all-star captain. “I can’t stress how good (Crosby’s) heart was, and how nice he was to do this for us.”

Memphis grew up watching hockey, thanks to his dad. He likes the Vancouver Canucks because he adores their blue uniforms (note he’s only five). But when it comes to players, there’s only one he looks up to.

“If the game is on, he’s always asking ‘where’s Sidney?” said Savage, who lives in Sidney in Greater Victoria.