Patrick WilliamsTheahl.com features a writer
Last week Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach Mike Stekos he got on a plane and flew to Sweden.
Stockholm, home to the NHL Series Rebleheader between Pittsburgh and the Nashville Raiders, is a long way from where it left off two and a half years ago. November is hockey and cancer month, and sneakers like anyone have a direct and real connection. The penguins are in charge of the hockey fight against cancer tonight, and the big ones are back standing behind the bench where they don’t belong.
In March 2023, the majors – who made his name in the AHL as a tough devinseman before doing five training stops around the league – received his diagnosis of stage 3 melanoma of the melanoma of the melanoma of the lymph.
Then the assistant with the Ducks of Anaheim, the great – who was the Head Coach of the Los Angeles Kings’ Affiliates in Manchester and Ontario from 2020 – followed Hunch. Something felt wrong. But when he received difficult news, he made sure to think about how he could help others.
“If I could share one simple message to all: Listen to your body,” he decided to announce his diagnosis. “If you see anything unusual, or you don’t feel like yourself, see a doctor right away. Please don’t wait. It could be the best decision you ever made.”
That ambiguity may have saved his life. Maybe it could save someone else’s life, too. Thitheni’s news came early to give him and his medical team a fight back.
“Actually, I feel honest,” he decided earlier this year, “and I say honestly. As someone in Anaheim. Obviously there was high and low care, but I couldn’t answer better health care.”
It’s popular and it comes out wherever it comes from, it’s always been someone who will look for bright spots. The Hard Sound-At-Home Defenseman’s interpretation of Hershey’s gritty 1980s teams, open, friendly and straightforward earned him the respect of his players years after years after entering coaching. Those conditions also finished him well when cancer came.
Stuthers and his medical team worked to bring the cancer back, and he transitioned into an advisory role with the Anaheim organization in 2023-24. In 2024, the giants returned home to Owen Sound, Ont. One of the bright spots involves regular family time.
“I’m just kind of putting it down a little bit,” Inqua said last year. “I told my family that I’m a little bit in their lives, so I just live my life with my grandson and their jobs and their sporting events. I enjoy it. I enjoy it. I enjoy it. I enjoy it. I enjoy it. I enjoy it. [The stress of] Wins and losses, power plays, special teams, everything, adds up. “
In January came news of the Hershey Bears’ Hall of Fame selection. He played parts of eight seasons at Hershey before beginning his coaching career there. When the Flyers captured their relationship in Philadelphia, he remained an assistant with the Phantoms, winning the Caller Cup in 1998. His first AHL head assignment.
It’s been a long hockey life for the elder and his family, one that began when he was acquired by the Flyers in the first round of the NHL Draft. Cancer meant he slowed down for one of the first times in his life. Being at home with his wife Judeatheir children and grandchildren.
But hundreds are also meant to be in hockey. He returned to the bench this season, and joined Todd Nelson, Nick bonino and Clune As assistants to the new Penguins Head Coach Dan Museemployees.
“I’ve had a lot of different organizations, and I’ve enjoyed my time in each one,” Inquotu told Pittsburghphengunchuins.com. “But there’s something about the penguins and how they work … that appealed to me, and I felt like there was some endless business.”
In the American Hockey League Beat twenty and twenty, Theahl.com Features Writer Patrick Williams and currently covers the league for NHL.com and flosports and is a regular contributor to the network. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage in the league in 2016.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘
fbq(‘init’, ‘634980329980573’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
