Coyotes Pay Tribute to Friend and Teammate Leighton Accardo

"Skate hard, have fun."
Those words were part of a

She was an inspiration to many as she battled the disease for nearly two years. She touched many hearts and lives.
"Our hearts are broken with the passing of Leighton Accardo this morning," said Coyotes President and CEO Xavier Gutierrez. "Leighton was a fighter and we were all inspired by her incredible strength, courage and passion for life. Our thoughts and prayers are with her father, Jeremy, mother, Carly, brothers, Larsson and Locke, and sister Leeanne. Leighton will be greatly missed but she will forever be a part of our Pack."
Tuesday afternoon, a number of Coyotes players, General Manager Bill Armstrong, Head Coach Rick Tocchet, TV broadcasters Matt McConnell and Tyson Nash, and radio broadcaster Paul Bissonnette visited the Accardo household to give their condolences.
Leighton was a player in the Arizona Kachinas Hockey Association and an ambassador for "Hockey Fights Cancer." She began her playing career with the Arizona Hockey Union Knights.
On November 16 last season, Leighton signed an honorary, one-day contract with the Coyotes for the annual "Hockey Fights Cancer" game, in conjunction with the NHL's "Hockey Fights Cancer" initiative. She gave the pregame speech to the team and took the ceremonial opening face-off before the game. Leighton watched as the team earned a hard-fought 3-0 victory.

Lyndsey Fry, President of the Kachinas Association, has known Leighton for five years. Fry was a coach, a mentor, and above all, a friend.
"I think the most important part of her legacy is that she never lost her fight," said Fry. "And neither did her family. Her doctors could not believe how positive Leighton was throughout, how brave she was, how well she handled everything. My goodness, I'm three times her age, and I don't know if I could have handled it with as much grace as she did."
Fry considers Leighton a lifetime Kachina, saying she'll forever be a part of the Coyotes family. Fry recalled one of Leighton's practices before her cancer diagnosis.
"Before anyone knew she was sick, it was like two days before she went to the hospital, Leighton came out to one of our summer skates for Kachinas," Fry said. "It was probably a year and a half ago now. We (accidentally) threw her in with kids like a foot and a half taller than her, and she was just dominating the play. No fear whatsoever, just dominating the play. I think that's how she acted throughout this whole process. She's just been fearless. She's been a fighter until the end."

Prior to her diagnosis, Leighton typically spent four to five days a week playing hockey and figure skating. Her perseverance was highlighted as she continued skating while undergoing treatment and then losing the use of her left foot, which was affected by an abdomen tumor that struck her left sciatic nerve, essentially paralyzing her left leg.
Coyotes head equipment manager Stan Wilson worked with Leighton to create a custom skate.
Matt Shott, Coyotes Director of Hockey Development, admired Leighton's unrelenting drive to meet the direst challenges of her cancer.
"She never let this take control of her until there was no option," said Shott, whose father was a cancer victim. "She was always adamant to go about her life. From having the problem with her leg and her foot not fitting in her skate anymore, she still found a way to get on the ice. Stan and the equipment guys put together a special boot for her, because at the end of the day, Leighton didn't want this to affect her way of life."

Fry said: "That kid gave every ounce of fight she had in her with a smile on her face the entire time. That's what's inspiring about her. For all of us, it's a good reminder that life is short. We're going to go through hard things, Leighton went through hard things, but we have the ability within us to do it with a smile on our face, and I think that's what she inspired the most.
She added: "I went to the place I usually go when hard stuff like this happens. I started to think of my best friend Liz Turgeon who passed away almost 10 years ago. She's kind of always been my angel in the sky, and that day I found out (about Leighton's last diagnosis) I just remember crying in my kitchen, talking to Liz and saying, 'You better take care of this kid.' So, I think for me, that's kind of how I've been getting through it, trying to have faith that she's going to have someone to play with when she gets up there."
Shott especially will remember Leighton's radiance.
"She was just a ball of positivity, and she always will be," Shott said. "We're lucky to have the pictures and the videos of her smiling. We're lucky to have that stuff because it embodies what she was."

Everyone in the Coyotes organization is trying to process their emotions, Fry said.
"I think it was probably one of the best demonstrations of any organization -- not just sports -- of just rallying around a person and a family that needed it. If there was any way to make that girl's dreams come true … I really would like to believe we did it."
Shott said, "I was lucky to know her and to be a part of her life. It's weird for a 33-year-old to describe a nine-year-old as a friend, but I hope everybody in the hockey community adapts her phrase to us, which was "Skate hard, have fun," because that's all that matters, skating hard and having fun. That's the 'Leighton way.'"

Lead Photo Credit: Tyler Rittenhouse - Arizona Coyotes // Second Photo Credit: Kevin Anggara - Arizona Coyotes // Third Photo Credit: Norm Hall - NHLI via Getty Images // Fourth Photo Credit: Kevin Anggara - Arizona Coyotes // Footer Photo Credit: Norm Hall - NHLI via Getty Images