Students in Beth Whittaker's class pose with NHL player Nick Grossmann.
Students in Beth Whittaker’s first-grade class got a big surprise Wednesday afternoon.
Nick Grossmann, a defender on the Philadelphia Flyers who has played in the NHL for 10 seasons, visited the classroom late in the morning and answered a plethora of questions about hockey and his home country of Sweden.
Grossmann is a family friend of Whittaker’s, and has been dating her sister, Rita Madden, for several years. Madden visited the class with Grossmann.
The Flyers missed the playoffs this season, and following the season, Grossmann and Madden were visiting the area and wanted to see Whittaker’s first-grade classroom.
Surrounded by first graders, Grossmann and Madden answered many questions about Sweden, and hockey.
He taught the class how to say “hi” in Swedish, which is “hej,” but pronounced “hey.”
After being asked what else he likes to do in the winter, he said he skis, and builds snow forts and snowmen, which excited the class.
“It snows a lot,” he said. “We do a lot in the snow and you have to dress warm.”
One student asked how this season went, and Grossmann said his team just missed the playoffs.
“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “We won a lot of games, but didn’t win enough.”
Several questions included the animals one would see in Sweden (similar to what we see in this area, such as deer and foxes, but also moose, brown bears, and reindeer if you go north). He also told students what they might hear in classrooms from teachers in Swedish.
He ended by saying the alphabet in Swedish and the kids spoke along with him.