Mandi Schwartz Loses Battle With Cancer

Heaven's hockey all-star team has now just become co-ed. A story that I have been following for a while has met it's sad end as Mandi Schwartz succumbed to cancer on Sunday April 3rd. She was 23 years old.

She is talked about fondly by everyone who knew her as I made the trek through the Internet websites and blogs.

"She's such an inspiration," Hughes admitted. "It's weird because people who read her story or heard her story are moved by it and those of us who were here with her and have watched over the years … it's been a journey and she's been the rock through it all. She's been the steady one, the optimistic one and because of that, she's taught us so much."

Her friend and former Yale teammate, Aleca Hughes said:

"I think Mandi should be remembered as an incredibly kind and selfless person; an extraordinary hockey player and athlete who always put others before herself. I think that was a huge part of her game while she was playing, and clearly it's going to be a huge part of her legacy long after this."

I suppose this is now the hat trick of tragedy during this current season as now this makes the 3rd hockey personality to lose their life to cancer. Coach Burns, Mr. Kelley, and now Miss Schwartz.

Mandi is survived by her loving parents and her brothers most notably, Jaden, who was just selected in the first round (#14 overall) by the St. Louis Blues in last year's 2010 entry draft.

I am certain to continue to follow this story as sources that has already mentioned a Foundation in her honor. Check back to when that gets announced.

[Via: Yale Daily News and NHL.com]

[Cross posted on Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic]

Hall of Fame Hockey Journalist Jim Kelley Loses Battle with Cancer

During my working affiliation with CJCL-AM in Toronto, ON, I had become accustomed to listening to a fascinating broadcaster by the name of Jim Kelley opine on the direction of hockey in a diverse grouping. His specialty was that as a beat writer for the Buffalo Sabres at the The Buffalo News in 1981, but also expanded to the point where he gained such national acclaim he was awarded a spot in the Hockey Hall of fame in 2004.

His career took a long bit of a journey having worked for practically all major media sources. ESPN, FOX, Rogers, and Sports Illustrated, all featured his hockey columns. With the advent of syndication over the Internet, I listened to a guy who had a mastery of communication equally paired with a volume of endless stories in his hockey world. It was a natural pairing of Kelley to Fan590's curmudgeon McCown, to which their friendship colored their discussions. Kelley had to reel in the Canadian bias with his American perspective and provide a seasoning of hope that the game he loved was being reported accurately.

I never got to work with Jim, but for a brief time we were colleagues at Fadoo.ca. He always seemed like a great guy and now the hockey world is all the more at a loss for his passing by cancer.

It is with deeper devotion that this blog will continue to highlight the efforts by the hockey world continue the fight against cancer in all it's forms so that no more lives can be affected by the horrible disease.

[Via: Sportsnet.ca]

Pat Burns Loses Battle With Cancer

By now, most of you have already heard the tragic news that one of the familiar faces in the modern hockey era has passed away due to cancer. Pat Burns was more than a "journeyman coach" as his knowledge for the game traversed many things much like his flyer miles.

He never coached in my hometown, but I do know him through his reputation as being a great coach. So, in times like this where my own knowledge of a subject is limited, I refer to other people who are in the loop. Sportsnet columnist and former Sabres beat writer Jim Kelley has perhaps the best tribute to the late coach. He recounted the wisdom passed along to him during their last meeting.

"It's pretty much like I used to tell my players," he said. "You can't complain about the circumstances, about the hand you're dealt. You just get up every day and you deal with it. It's hard, it's hard on you and it's hard on your family, but you can't change any of that. You get up, you look in the mirror and you say 'not today, you're not going to beat me today'. Sometimes you win that day, sometimes the cancer knocks you down and takes its day, but you get up again tomorrow. You keep getting up until the day comes..."

But of the things I am comfortable talking about is the way that the disease known as cancer has gotten so bad and taken so many lives, that we must all do a part to find a way to find a better cure for it. The NHL already does a lot for charity and hope that you too can find the time to contribute.
 [Via: Sportsnet.ca - Jim Kelley]

[Cross-possed @ Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic]