OTTAWA -- Pat LaFontaine figured he knew the answer. The Buffalo kid on the other end of the video chat surely was going to say "Sabres" when LaFontaine asked the boy which hockey team is his favorite.

Brandon, however, got a sheepish look on his face and mumbled, "Philadelphia."

"You're a Flyers fan and you're in Buffalo?!" LaFontaine said Friday with the smile that has flashed throughout North America. "I'll be right back."

LaFontaine already had Flyers forward Sean Couturier taking part in the conference call, but the Sabres and Hockey Hall of Famer wanted to do more. He ran to grab Philadelphia forward Matt Read, who also was helping LaFontaine open an interactive playroom in Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

With that, Brandon -- passing the time in a similar playroom in either Roswell Park Cancer Institute or Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo -- got to talk with two players from his favorite team. He was happy, and making kids smile is what thrills LaFontaine.

"In this lifetime, I'm never going to be asked how many goals or assists I had," he said. "At the end of the day, it's what you did for others."

His penchant for helping shined through again Friday. LaFontaine, whose Companions in Courage Foundation has installed Lion's Den playrooms in 14 hospitals, helped add another room to the list while Ottawa celebrates All-Star weekend. The former Sabres center teamed with the NHL, NHL Players' Association, the Senators and Cisco technologies to open the "NHL All-Star Legacy Playroom" in Ottawa's children's hospital.

While LaFontaine and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said hello to patients and their parents, the kids played video games and watched big-screen TVs. The patients also went to a walled-off corner of the room to participate in video conferences. The system allows children in Ottawa to chat live with patients in Buffalo, Boston and Philadelphia, giving kids who can't go outside a chance to hear what's going on in other parts of the world.

"It never gets old when you open up a room like this for kids," said LaFontaine, whose foundation cut the ribbon on the playroom in Buffalo Women and Children's Hospital in 2005 and in Roswell Park in 2007. "The kids are the inspiration. My goal and my hope and calling, I think, in life is to touch as many and help as many kids, and I'm just a small part of it. At the end of the day, we're up to almost impacting 45,000 to 50,000 kids a year around North America."

LaFontaine hasn't given up helping adults, either. His career was cut short by double-digit concussions, and he is lobbying hard to ensure today's players don't suffer a similar fate. Concussions seem as commonplace as breakaways lately.

"It's a serious, almost epidemic these days," LaFontaine said. "It's not going away. The forces are there. You have to understand what's giving is the head and the neck, and we need to continue to put in the proper rules, whatever it takes to protect the head and the neck in our game.

"I left the game with tremendous gratitude, no regrets. I was fortunate to get out and I had no residual effects. I was a lucky one. I don't have any lingering problems, but that's not the case all the time. There are guys that struggle, so whatever I can do as a former player to help out, I'm happy."

LaFontaine recently talked with the Flyers' Danny Briere, who is out with a serious concussion. He has reached out to Pittsburgh superstar Sidney Crosby, who has missed most of the past two seasons with concussions.

LaFontaine is very concerned for the future of Crosby, who is only 24.

"I'm hopeful, but I also know science," he said. "I also know what happens if you get multiple head injuries. When you're at this point and it's taken you not much of a hit to put you that far out, it's very concerning."

LaFontaine still vividly recalls the type of days Crosby and Briere are experiencing.

"A bad day is you have no enthusiasm," he said. "You have a migraine headache. You're anxious. You don't want to leave the house. You're very emotional. You just can't see the light. There's no spark. There's nothing, and you can't find it. It's a very confusing place. I wouldn't be able to sit and have a conversation."

For patients like Brandon in Buffalo, though, they just need to head to the video conference corner to chat anytime they need a pick-me-up. LaFontaine is a major reason for that.

"This room is a legacy for these children," LaFontaine said. "To me that's what it's all about."

jvogl@buffnews.comnull