Just before the puck was dropped in the hockey game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Islanders, two of the officers injured in the tragic mass murder at the Tree of Life synagogue on Saturday stood before a crowd roaring with their appreciation for their heroics.
The two officers—27-year-old Anthony Burke and 39-year-old Mike Smidga—were feverishly cheered by a sold-out crowd at the arena.
After the game, the two officers were invited to accompany three members of the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh—Sue Berman Kress, Bob Silverman and Josh Sayles—to visit players and owners in the locker room. There, they met with co-owner Mario Lemieux and star player Sidney Crosby.
The ceremonial puck drop was just one of many things the Penguins did to honor the victims of the Squirrel Hill shooting, according to the Post-Gazette.
The team also asked the attending crowd to stand for 11 seconds of silence—one second for each of the people killed in the shooting on Saturday.