EDMONTON -- Anyone who loves hockey would love to have had the weekend Dennis Bryan had in Edmonton. But the price he paid to earn it was terribly high.
Bryan, 13, plays goalie for two minor-hockey teams in St. Louis. He was inspired four years ago to play the position by watching then-Blues goalie Brent Johnson. Now, his favorite Blues player is Curtis Sanford. Those crazy rubberstoppers stick together.
Bryan played net until he was stricken with Hodgkin's Lymphoma a year ago. The good news is that doctors determined last month that his cancer is in remission. In the meantime, his parents contacted the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which made arrangements for Dennis to achieve his dream of meeting former St. Louis hockey stars Chris Pronger, now with the Edmonton Oilers, and Doug Weight, with the Carolina Hurricanes. Patrick LaForge, the president and CEO of the Edmonton Oilers, played a big role in making things work.
Dennis and his parents, Mike and Jean, and sister Emily, 14, are big fans of both players. Jean and Mike have been rooting for the Blues since the mid-1970s, the heyday of Gary Unger, Larry Patey, Red Berenson, Bob MacMillan, and Bob and Barclay Plager.
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Schedule / Links:
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| Gm. 1: CAR 5, EDM 4 | Photos |
| Gm. 2: CAR 5, EDM 0 | Photos |
| Gm. 3: EDM 2, CAR 1 | Photos |
Gm. 4: June 12, 8:00 p.m. ET
at Edmonton (NBC, CBC, RDS) |
Gm. 5: June 14, 8:00 p.m. ET
at Carolina (NBC, CBC, RDS) |
*Gm. 6: June 17, 8:00 p.m. ET
at Edmonton (NBC, CBC, RDS) |
*Gm. 7: June 19, 8:00 p.m. ET
at Carolina (NBC, CBC, RDS) |
| *if necessary |
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Dennis's parents were shattered when they heard the diagnosis a year ago. Websites devoted to children's Hodgkin's Lymphoma waste no time in mentioning the impact on healthy family members and the need for counseling, as well as courage. Jean deals with illness as a nurse at Missouri Baptist Hospital and had access to the best of care and counseling. No doubt that's had a positive impact in battling the disease. Mike's dad makes the antacid Tums, and there was probably plenty of need for them in the past year.
"Dennis, fortunately, was a rapid responder to chemotherapy and radiation," Jean said. "We just recently found out that they are counting him in remission. That's wonderful, it's a blessing. I was in tears when I heard. There's no better news."
Dennis underwent chemotherapy and radiation in fighting his disease. That's not only tough on the body, it's tough to watch someone else go through it.
"He was absolutely wonderful. He was much stronger than his father and I were," Jean said. "Of course, he would have days when he was sick, but he took it like a hockey player. He plays for a team called the Blues and another called the Devils at All-American Inline rink in St. Louis. The Make-A-Wish Foundation in St. Louis connected us to the organization in Edmonton and they got us tickets to the game. He got to talk to Chris Pronger and Doug Weight and everybody has just been wonderful."
"I was happy to talk to him," Weight said. "I met his family. He seemed like a nice boy from a nice family. I hadn't read anything about him, didn't know his medical condition, didn't know we'd be meeting, but he was very excited. We're really fortunate that kids look up to us like that. He was kind of nervous and then we took a picture. I mean, that was his one wish. It humbles you and brings the game down to reality. He made my night, meeting him and his family. It was a special request and I was happy that I could talk to him for awhile."
Dennis was asked about meeting his heroes.
"It was very interesting. Chris Pronger is very tall. We talked in front of the big silver door on the Oilers locker room," he said. "We talked about hockey. I've been playing goalie and I wanted to play hockey after watching the Blues on television. We go to a couple of games a year. I'm hoping they have a very strong season next year. Doug Weight is kind of like Pronger, but not as tall. We talked about hockey, too."
While Jean was talking to a reporter Sunday morning, injured Edmonton Oilers goalie Dwayne Roloson walked by and a team official introduced him to Dennis. The pro hockey player took complete control of the situation. The next thing you knew, Roloson and the boy were off by themselves, engaged in a lengthy conversation in the hallway to the Oilers dressing room. It was a private moment, the goalie's hand on the boy's shoulder, his head nodding as the boy spoke. Roloson signed Dennis's hat and that seemed to be it. It would have been enough for Dennis, who had a big smile. But a minute later, Dennis was carrying a big, white goalie stick, signed by Roloson and some teammates. He carried it with pride.
The family returned to a downtown hotel where Dennis had an appointment to see the Stanley Cup. While Dennis and Jean waited in the lobby, former NHL goalie John Vanbiesbrouck walked in, greeted the reporter and was introduced to Dennis.
"He plays goal, John."
For the next 10 minutes, Vanbiesbrouck talked to the boy and his mom, traded memories of Blues' hockey and gave Dennis encouragement on his return to hockey.
"Brent Johnson and Curtis Sanford, huh?" Vanbiesbrouck said. "Remember Roman Turek?"
Dennis nodded yes.
"Been a lot of good goalies in St. Louis, that's for sure," Vanbiesbrouck said.
Told you these goalies stick together.
"The first word that comes to my mind is perspective," Vanbiesbrouck said about the meeting. "It gives you a broader perspective on life. I met with a Make-A-Wish child when I was playing and I was initially speechless. I did everything in my power to try to make the time fun. It's a special time. I think it affected me, grew me, had a lasting effect, maybe more than it did him."
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Dennis Bryan has long admired Edmonton defenseman Chris Pronger, a fan favorite with the Blues, his former team.
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Then it was upstairs to the room with the Stanley Cup. Another group was leaving, among them former NHLer Kirk Muller. Dennis passed by them, his eyes riveted to Stanley Cup. He stared it up and down, walked around it, leaned in to read the names. Muller was tipped to the situation, gave a nod to his people, and walked over to Dennis.
"You a hockey player? What's your name? Never seen the Stanley Cup up close before? I have. My name's Kirk Muller and it's on there. Right there. I was with the Montreal Canadiens when we won in 1993. You from St. Louis? Remember Mike Keane? He played in St. Louis. He was my teammate that year. Look there's his name. Vinny Damphousse. Mathieu Schneider, Patrick Roy, John LeClair. You know those guys, right?"
It was an emotional moment for the witnesses as the Stanley Cup winner, the cancer fighter, his mother, and Mike Bolt, the custodian of the Stanley Cup, turned the Cup one way and another as Bolt explained all the oddities in the engravings, the Cup's history, the "you-have-to-know-where-to-look" insignia that indicates the real Stanley Cup from the amazingly look-alike replicas. Muller hoisted the Stanley Cup, as he did in 1993, and invited Dennis to grab it on the other side as cameras flashed. If Muller wasn't a big hero to you before, he is now.
Bolt too. For the next hour, he told stories of accompanying the Stanley Cup to the homes of many of its winners, to the Kremlin, Siberia, Sweden, Finland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and of flying Scott Niedermayer and the Stanley Cup to the top of British Columbia's tallest mountain.
Bolt's friends teased him about one of his worst days on the job. A Colorado Avalanche executive wanted hike the Stanley Cup to one of the state's highest peaks, about 14,000 feet in elevation.
"Do they try to think up difficult things for you to do?" Jean asked.
"Sometimes, I think so," Bolt said, as Dennis laughed.
"I'd want to take it fishing, keep the fish in the bowl until I cook them and then eat the fish out of the bowl," Dennis said, and that sounded unique.
"It's been done," Bolt said. "One of the best days ever. Chris Simon won with Colorado. He lives way up in northern Ontario. We were out at dawn in his boat on a beautiful, still lake. Wonderful memory."
Dennis looked like he was sorry he missed it.
"Hey, you're a Brent Johnson fan," someone said to Dennis. "Look at this. 1950 Detroit Red Wings, Sid Abel. That's Brent Johnson's granddad."
"Wow. Was he a goalie?" Dennis asked.
"Enough with the goalie stuff, kid. No, he was a left winger, a great one, in the Hockey Hall of Fame, where Mike works. What's your favorite goalie stick?"
"Synergy."
"I like Koho, right weight for me."
"I like Koho," Dennis agreed.
"Best thing on this trip we haven't talked about?"
"I saw Wayne Gretzky's locker in the Oilers dressing room."
"Go make your high-school hockey team!"
"I will," he promised.
