A night at UBS Arena turned into something far bigger than hockey for the McHale family.
During Saturday’s Islanders-Lightning game, the team and the Tunnel to Towers Foundation surprised Hope McHale and her twin sons, Matthew and Ryan, with a gift that wiped out the mortgage on their Manhasset home and covered college tuition for the two seniors at Manhasset High School. The presentation came during the second TV timeout of the first period, when Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky, Butch Goring and Tunnel to Towers vice president in the line of duty Frank Vogt handed the family a giant check as the crowd of 17,345 erupted.
Hope described the moment as emotional and overwhelming. “There are absolutely no words that can express our gratitude for everything that the Islanders and Tunnel to Towers just did for us,” she said.
“It's life-changing for us. Obviously, nothing can bring back their dad, my husband.
But it helps ease some pressure on us.”
Her husband, Martin “Woody” McHale, died at age 50 in December 2012. Hope said she knew him as “Woody” when they met, and remembered him as “larger than life.”
He joined the FDNY in 1989, worked in Brooklyn’s Engine 252 and was promoted to fire marshal in 1999. He arrived before the towers collapsed on 9/11 and received several medals and awards during his career.
“Physically, he was very muscular, but he had a huge heart and an even bigger personality,” Hope said, who lives in Manhasset with Matthew and Ryan. “When he walked into a room, he got everybody's attention. He was just an amazing guy, and everybody loved him.
“He loved the FDNY, but he loved his children more than anything in the world, and that was probably his biggest accomplishment.”
For Matthew and Ryan, the surprise landed exactly the way it felt in the building. Ryan called it “crazy,” and Matthew said it was “life-changing.”
Hope said the family had no real clue what was coming. The information they were given ahead of time was “very vague,” though they understood the Islanders wanted to honor her husband and that the team’s proximity to UBS Arena was part of the reason.
The selection fit into Tunnel to Towers’ push to deliver 343 mortgage-free homes this year, a tribute to the 343 FDNY firefighters who died on 9/11. Vogt said the choice of the McHales went deeper than geography.
“When I saw the application and I heard about Woody, I said, 'this is a great American,'” Vogt said. “This is someone who was at the pits on 9/11, looking for people like my uncle Stephen Siller [a firefighter in Brooklyn’s Squad 1 who died on 9/11).
He was an FDNY football team captain. He played for them for 20 years, and 12 years he was the captain.
“But more than that, he was a great husband and a father, and his legacy is these two children.”
Vogt also praised Hope and the boys, saying, “Hope has this - she has hope,” and pointing to the way she has raised Matthew and Ryan after losing their father at a young age.
Hope said Manhasset is “full of Islanders fans” and noted that several players live there as well.
The night also fit under the Islanders’ Hockey With a Heart initiative, which has given more than $2 million to nonprofit organizations since UBS Arena opened in 2021.
“I think it's incredible that Tunnel for Towers was able to help so many families in conjunction with the Islanders,” Hope said. “They probably know, but to be a recipient is life-changing and very overwhelming, and we are very appreciative. This is huge.”
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