The Vancouver Island native - who had brain tumors removed shortly after his first birthday - received the news in January that, after years of no problems, two new non-cancerous tumors had developed.
Shortly after, Memphis' father, Cole, penned a letter to the Penguins asking if there was a chance Memphis could meet his favorite player - Crosby.
The opportunity presented itself Saturday.
"I was hoping and praying but I had no idea it was going to happen," Cole said, according to Cheryl Chan of The Province. "I can’t stress how good (Crosby’s) heart was, and how nice he was to do this for us."
Crosby spent nearly 45 minutes signing autographs and chatting with the family and urging Memphis to continue fighting in a chat that was instigated by Memphis.
"My name is Memphis. Nice to meet you, sir," a well-dressed Memphis said, breaking the ice with his idol.
Memphis would get to watch Crosby skate in a 3-0 win over his favorite team, the Canucks, capping off what, to dad, was a perfect afternoon.
"I was almost crying," said Cole. "He’s a 100 percent class act. We met a real champion. A heart of gold that guy has."
Every Tuesday, theScore's editors will examine the fortunes of the north's seven NHL franchises. Welcome to "O Canada."
With less than a month remaining in the regular season, things are either heating up or cooling down for Canada's teams.
Those vying for the playoffs - after a year when no Canadian-based teams made the postseason - will rely heavy on star players, but it's important not to forget the seldom-mentioned players who have made huge contributions.
The Flames forward has seldom been in the spotlight during his career, but he's been as consistent and reliable as anyone could ask from a third-line player.
This season, Frolik has once again chipped in with 15 goals - good enough for third on the Flames - while his 41 points puts him on pace to eclipse his career high. All that and the fact he's put up nine points during a 10-game winning streak, just further proves how vital he's been to the team.
Edmonton Oilers
Player: Mark Letestu
Take: On a club that boasts the most electrifying player in the game in Connor McDavid, guys such as Letestu can fly under the radar very easily.
Nevertheless, with a respectable 13 goals and 30 points in 65 games, Letestu has given the Oilers some value and proven he can play up and down the lineup in nearly all situations.
He has the fifth-best shooting percentage on the team, is on pace to hit a career high in points, and with four goals on nine opportunities he's also been among the Oilers most trusted players in the shootout.
Montreal Canadiens
Player: Paul Byron
Take: It might surprise some to know that Byron actually ranks second on the Canadiens with 18 goals.
He sits second only to Max Pacioretty's 33 and is second on the team with five game-winning tallies. He's done all this while averaging just 14:56 of ice-time (15th on the team) and with only 79 shots.
Byron's made the most of his opportunities and appears to be a steal at just over $1.1 million.
Ottawa Senators
Player: Dion Phaneuf
Take: Love him or hate him, Phaneuf has been a welcome addition to the Senators.
In his first full season with the club, he sits second behind Erik Karlsson among efensemen with nine goals and 29 points. He's averaging the third-most time on the penalty kill, has the third-most power play points, and averages the third-most blocks.
A smaller spotlight than he had in Toronto appears to be working wonders.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Player: Tyler Bozak
Take: Bozak might never become that true elite centermen many Maple Leafs fans had envisioned, but there's nothing wrong with that.
The 30-year-old sits sixth on the club with 16 goals and 46 points and is on pace to surpass his previous career high of 49 points.
Tyler Bozak enters play tonight with 7 pts in his last 5 games. The once undrafted Regina, native is 2 gms away from 500 in NHL. #tmltalk
Bozak has been valuable, contributing 15 power play points and is by far the team's most reliable faceoff man with a 55.3 percent success rate.
Vancouver Canucks
Player: Sven Baertschi
Take: This season has been a roller coaster for the Canucks. The club has shown glimpses of both dominance and disaster. However, through it all, one shining light has been the play of Baertschi.
After much fermenting in the AHL and a trade from the Flames, the 2011 first-round draft pick appears to be coming into his own. This season, he has a career-best 16 goals and 31 points, surpassing last year's totals in 18 fewer games.
He still needs more development, but Baertschi is looking like a key piece of the Canucks' future.
Winnipeg Jets
Player: Jacob Trouba
Take: Once appearing to be on his way out of town, Trouba still remains on the Jets and the team is all the better for it.
Trouba has been an important cog on the blue line, sitting third in ice time, third with 103 blocked shots, while leading the club with 3:04 of short-handed ice time per game.
Factor in that he's also chipped in six goals and 27 points - the second most among Jets' blue-liners - and it's easy to see why the club made the right decision in not dealing him away.
Through the remainder of the regular season, we'll take a look at how the night's action impacts the playoff race, highlighting which teams' postseason odds went up or down significantly.
If the New York Islanders want to make the second season, they're going to have to beat the Carolina Hurricanes. Like, at least once. They've got two more tries, including a rematch Tuesday after an 8-4 whipping - their third loss to the 'Canes this season - in Brooklyn.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, meanwhile, are now a point out of a wild-card spot and have quietly picked up points in six of seven games since the trade deadline. So much for selling, eh?
Out west, the Los Angeles Kings' playoff aspirations may be in serious doubt after the St. Louis Blues secured two huge points in regulation in Hollywood.
An uncharacteristically busy Monday night saw some major swings as the race to the Stanley Cup Playoffs continues to heat up. Here they are:
Eastern Conference
Team
Result
Playoff Chances
Change
Lightning
W 3-2 vs. Rangers
29.9%
+10.2%
Bruins
W 6-3 vs. Canucks
84.6%
+8.2%
Islanders
L 8-4 vs. Hurricanes
26.2%
-19.5%
Western Conference
Team
Result
Playoff Chances
Change
Blues
W 3-1 vs. Kings
94.7%
+7.4%
Predators
W 5-4 (OT) vs. Jets
89.6%
+7.4%
Kings
L 3-1 vs. Blues
23.8%
-18.1%
To see percentages for each team in the league, visit Sports Club Stats.
The Boston Bruins forward had a huge night Monday, torching the Vancouver Canucks for four points, including a third period hat trick, in an important 6-3 win.
(If you haven't seen his second goal, fix that now, because No. 63 stripped Henrik Sedin of the puck, put it through Alex Edler's legs in order to get around the lanky defender, and then went backhand off the post past Ryan Miller for what stood as the game-winning goal. It was bonkers.)
Also bonkers: Marchand is now tied with Sidney Crosby for the league lead in goals with 35, and also tied with Crosby for the second-most points in the NHL, with 74. Connor McDavid's one up on the pair, with 75 points. (It must be noted that Crosby's played six fewer games than McDavid and seven fewer than Marchand.)
After a career-high 37 goals and 61 points last season, Marchand's taken his game to another level. His 74 points and counting are already a career best, and he will easily hit 40-plus goals at this pace. At 28 years old, he's become truly elite.
Seriously, it's silly. Marchand has seven goals in six games in March, and an absurd 25 goals in his last 28 games, dating back to Jan. 7.
No one's been better since the calendar flipped to 2017. Here are the top 10 scorers since Jan. 1, and McDavid and Crosby:
Rank
Player
GP
G
A
P
GWG
1
Marchand
30
25
18
43
4
2
Nicklas Backstrom
33
12
26
38
2
3
Patrick Kane
29
19
17
36
2
4
Mark Scheifele
31
13
23
36
1
5
Jack Eichel
33
13
22
35
1
6
Brent Burns
31
12
23
35
2
7
Nikita Kucherov
30
18
16
34
2
8
Mikael Granlund
31
13
21
34
1
9
Patrice Bergeron
30
10
24
34
3
10
David Pastrnak
30
9
25
34
3
12
McDavid
30
9
23
32
2
13
Crosby
30
9
23
32
2
Some takeaways:
Not only has Marchand outproduced his peers, he's scoring massive goals for his team. Not in the table are his three shorthanded goals and five shorthanded points in the new year.
His linemates Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak are producing exceptionally, as well. There's no way the trio will let the Bruins miss the playoffs.
How weird is it that Crosby and McDavid have the same exact totals? Very, we'd say.
Marchand's shooting an unsustainable 28.1 percent in the new year, and 17.5 percent on the season, the highest mark of his career in a non-lockout campaign. Yeah, there's some luck involved, but it's more than that. He's very, very good. He's creating some of that luck.
With a handful of games and less than a month left in the season, not only are the playoff races going to be something to watch the rest of the way, so are the scoring ones.
David Perron scored late in the second period and Alexander Steen added an empty-net goal with 6.5 seconds left for the Blues, who lead the Kings by five points for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
Dustin Brown scored with 2:55 remaining and Jonathan Quick stopped 23 shots, but the Kings failed to earn a point for the first time in Quick's six starts since returning from a groin injury.
Quick made an acrobatic initial save on Perron's one-timer, but the puck trickled free underneath the goalie and Perron tapped it in for his 14th goal of the season 13:37 into the second.
Paajarvi then redirected Patrik Berglund's shot to give the Blues a 2-0 lead 1:10 into the third.
It was Paajarvi's first power-play goal since April 6, 2013, when he scored for Edmonton in a 4-1 loss to the Kings.
Brown banged in a rebound to make it 2-1 late after Allen landed face-first to stop Drew Doughty's shot. The Kings had the puck in the offensive zone for much of the closing minutes but could not come up with the tying goal.
Both teams were cautious to start, not necessarily a surprise given the high stakes. However, the tenor of the game changed in the closing 15 seconds of the first period when Quick did the splits to deny Paul Stastny's backhand, and the chances continued to pile up after the break.
Dmitrij Jaskin hit the post during a St. Louis power play, and Robert Bortuzzo put a great chance over the net with Quick out in front of his crease. The Kings' line of Tanner Pearson, Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli each had promising looks during one particular blitz, with Los Angeles piling up 21 shots in the second without scoring.
Jaskin was helped to the locker room and did not return because of an upper-body injury after a frightening collision with Bortuzzo in the second. Jaskin was trying to make a play on the puck and never saw Bortuzzo in front of him, plowing into the stationary 221-pound defenseman.
NOTES: Steen picked up his 30th assist on Perron's goal, giving him at least 30 in a season for the fourth time. . Brown broke a six-game scoreless streak and now has 499 career points.
Perlini scored early in the second period and Smith made it stand, even through a flurry of activity in front of his own net in the final minute.
Calvin Pickard stopped 34 shots for Colorado, but the Avalanche were shut out for the 12th time this season.
Smith got his third shutout this season and the 33rd of his career, including five with Dallas and six with Tampa Bay.
The Coyotes started without captain Shane Doan, who appeared to be shaken up in a collision during warmups with teammate Jakob Chychrun. Radim Vrbata took Doan's place on the third line until late in the first period, when Doan returned.
The 40-year-old Doan has played in all 68 of Arizona's games this season. He is the Coyotes' franchise leader in games played, goals, assists and points.
''It's never fun colliding with him, but I'm glad he's OK,'' Chychrun said between the first and second periods.
In the first period, the teams combined for only nine shots on goal, and none in the final 9:14. Avalanche center J.T. Compher hit the post twice.
It took less than four minutes in the second for the Coyotes to get on the board. Peter Holland sent a pinpoint pass to Perlini on a rush, and Perlini's wrist shot beat Pickard glove side.
The 20-year-old Perlini has 13 goals in 43 games this season and has scored in three straight.
Pickard kept the Avalanche in the game with several athletic saves. He stopped back-to-back point-blank shots from Jamie McGinn and Tobias Rieder just over halfway through the second period, and made the save of the night on Perlini at 14:27 of the period when he reached out to stop a shot on a 2-on-1 rush.
Pickard also deflected Max Domi's breakaway shot a few minutes into the third period, and thwarted another Domi breakaway try at 14:37 of the period.
Smith moved into third place on the Coyotes' wins list with 127. His shutout total passed former Coyotes goalies Ilya Bryzgalov and Nikolai Khabibulin.
The Boston Bruins forward scored a ridiculous goal late on Monday, stripping Henrik Sedin of the puck and putting it through Alex Edler's legs before going backhand on Ryan Miller for his second goal of the third period.
They don't get much prettier than that.
Not only was the goal sublime, it was huge. It gave the Bruins a 4-3 lead, with Boston desperate for two points in a ridiculously tight Eastern Conference. The Bruins went on to win 6-3, with Marchand completing the second hat trick of his career on an empty net.
With three goals Monday, Marchand's up to 35 on the season, tied with Sidney Crosby for the league lead and two back of the career-high 37 he scored last season. The super-pest-turned-superb-goal-scorer added an assist for good measure, and his 74 points trail the NHL's leading scorer Connor McDavid by only one point.
Lastly, the win was Tuukka Rask's 200th of his career. The goalie has Mr. Marchand to thank.
It was one of the best games of the season between two of the hottest teams in the NHL.
The Calgary Flames beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in a shootout Monday, earning their 10th straight win and matching a franchise record set by the 1978-79 Atlanta Flames.
Pittsburgh's five-game win streak was snapped, but by earning a point, the Penguins are now tied with the Washington Capitals for the most points in the league with 95.
The Flames are now tied with Anaheim for second in the Pacific Division, and you can't blame Calgary fans if they're thinking about playoff hockey that will be played a month from now at Scotiabank Saddledome. It's happening.
Brian Elliott continued his excellent play in goal for the Flames, stopping 32 of the 35 shots he faced, and all three Penguins shootout attempts by some guys named Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and Phil Kessel.
Elliott's been in goal for nine of the 10 wins and should be back in the crease Wednesday when the Boston Bruins are in town as the 2016-17 Flames look to write their names in the Calgary record books.
