'The hockey world does care': Kian meets the Sens
Teenager's story touched many, including hockey players
It's sometimes difficult to predict who will be touched by the stories we tell. This was one of those times.
In March, CBC published the story of Kian Olsheski, a young man from small town Ontario who made the transition from female to male during his teen years.
Our inbox was soon flooded with responses. As anticipated, there were a lot of heartfelt notes from parents, and from the trans community. What we didn't expect were the emails from people in the world of professional hockey.
Part of Kian's story dealt with how he had quit hockey after being bullied by his teammates. That particular anecdote spoke directly to Andrea Barone, a professional referee who's openly gay.
"I obviously could relate to it right away, and I'm like, I need to do something to show him that ... the hockey world does care," Barone said.
Barone reached out to Kian through CBC and invited the teenager and his family to a Senators game, where he would get a chance to meet some of the players.
Kian took him up on the offer, and let the CBC tag along.
Mark Borowiecki
Anders Nilsson
Cody Ceci
Craig Anderson
Jean-Gabriel Pageau
Chris Neil
Brady Tkachuk
