Former National Hockey League player and coach Mike Murphy, currently the NHL's vice-president of operations, revealed recently to Canadian media that in October he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma.
The 59 year-old NHL executive also revealed that he was undergoing chemotherapy treatment and that radiation treatment would follow.
"If I'm blessed, I will be cancer-free come playoff time," said Murphy.
Playoff time in the NHL begins in late April.
Hockey and lymphoma
In 1997 NHL star John Cullen was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and successfully underwent treatment before returning to the league, and in 2001 NHL star Saku Koivu achieved the same thing.
However few modern sports stories match that of NHL superstar Mario Lemieux, who was the game's most dominating player in 1993 when he announced he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. After two months of treatment, Lemieux made a triumphant return to the ice--having received his final dose of radiation earlier in the day--to score two points in his first game back. Remarkably he would end the season as the league's top scorer, despite only playing 60 games out of 82.
By Ross Bonander
