Paralyzed hockey player Brian Page progressing, excited to be guest at Flyers-Penguins game

Brian Page Jr., whose life was forever changed by a hockey injury in November, has always been a diehard Penguins fan. Picked it up naturally from his dad, who grew up near Pittsburgh.

That means both father and son despised the Flyers, Pittsburgh’s most bitter rival.

Until this year.

Both still root hard for their beloved Penguins, but they have experienced a kinder, softer side from the Flyers, who have done their best to help the younger Page get through a catastrophic injury that has left him paralyzed from the chest down. He was injured while playing for the Little Flyers.

The NHL Flyers, who are not affiliated with the Little Flyers but gave them permission to use the name, have given Page, 17, their support through gifts and visits.

On Tuesday, Page, a Delaware resident, and family members will be the Flyers’ guests at the Wells Fargo Center when they host the Penguins. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, Page probably won’t be able to meet his favorite player, Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, or any of the Flyers.

No matter. He is thrilled to be able to attend his first NHL game since his injury.

“It’s going to be great; I’m excited for it,” Page, who will graduate from Caesar Rodney High next month, said the other day.

» READ MORE: Little Flyers hockey player Brian Page inspires as he rehabs at Philadelphia’s Magee Hospital

During the last two weeks, he has been able to go to some of the Little Flyers’ practices in Aston and attend a game.

“I’ve been getting to the rink more and watching my team, and hanging out with the coaches,” he said. “It’s been good; it’s more normal than anything.”

Page is not sure if he will wear a Penguins jersey, or the Flyers jersey with his name on the back and a No. 87 – the number Crosby has made famous – to the game Tuesday.

The latter jersey was given to Page by Danny Briere in early February, and the former Flyers star said the teenager “blew me away with how mature he was with all the stuff he’s going through.”

Briere said Page was “super positive,” and they had an instant connection.

“The Flyers organization has been so wonderful, and it’s hard not to think of the Flyers as being part of the family,” Page Sr. said.

“You have to root for them after they help you so much,” the younger Page said, “but I’m definitely still a Penguins fan.”

He thinks the Penguins are going to win the Stanley Cup.

“They have really good depth and four solid lines, and it’s hard to beat a team like that,” he said. “And obviously the top guys are playing really well and that makes them even tougher.”

Playing for the Little Flyers, the forward was a budding hockey star who was expected to play for a college powerhouse down the road. He was injured in a Nov. 15 game in Trenton when he skated into the offensive end and an opponent accidentally knocked him to the ice.

Page, doctors later said, broke his C-5 and C-6 vertebrae, and did damage to C-4 and C-7. He had four surgeries at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, including two to stabilize his spine and neck. In one operation, two rods and 10 pins were inserted.

He was then transferred to Magee Hospital and started his rehabilitation process. He stayed overnight at Magee for a little over two months, and now goes there twice a week as an outpatient, doing occupational and physical therapy.

His home has been renovated to make it easier for him to get around.

Though confined to a wheelchair, Page has gradually become a bit more independent. He can comb his hair, brush his teeth, take showers, and feed himself.

“I’m just getting stronger in general and more mobile in my chair,” he said.

He’s also getting antsy.

“We’re just trying to figure out some things to keep him busy,” said Page’s dad, a veteran Delaware state trooper. “He told me the other morning that he’s bored, and we don’t really know what he can do as far as being active. We need to find things. I told him, whatever he wants to do, we’ll try it. If he wants to try to kayak, we’ll try that. Go on road trips, whatever he wants to do.”

Tuesday, as he watches his favorite NHL team, will be a good start.