Stars' Fiddler provides huge assist to biggest fan

FRISCO, Texas -- Chloe Brown's favorite NHL player is Dallas Stars center Vernon Fiddler, and for good reason.
Prior to a 6-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at American Airlines Center on Feb. 25, Fiddler tossed a puck over the glass toward Brown. Her mother, Rhonda, caught the puck and handed it to Chloe, an
unforgettable moment captured on video here
.
When she was 15 months old, Chloe, now 9, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), a form of cancer that affects white blood cells whose primary function is to help fight infection. ALL is the most common type of childhood cancer, accounting for 35 percent of all such cases. There are 2,900 new cases of ALL in the United States alone each year.

Brown completed her first round of chemotherapy and went into remission when she was 2.
However, when Chloe was 3, the cancer returned and she has been on an alternate form of chemotherapy since. But according to Rhonda Brown, Chloe will complete this round in September, after which she should be cancer-free.
In the past year, the Brown family has attended several Stars games as part of Fidd's Kids, a program started by Fiddler and his wife, Chrissy, during the 2012-13 season. Through a partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Texas, the Fiddlers donate 12 tickets for each home game to local children. Chloe went to her first game as part of the group three seasons ago.
After tossing the puck to Chloe prior to that game with the Jets, Fiddler was seen wiping what were likely tears from his eyes in a moment he'll never forget.

"It's just one of those things where she's there supporting us every night and you try to get her some pucks and cheer her up because she's gone through a lot in her life," Fiddler said. "She's definitely an inspiration to all of us because she's a fighter. You love to see that kind of fight in a little girl like that."
But Chloe hasn't just gotten to see Fiddler at the arena with her family. The third-grader from Justin, Texas, a northern Dallas suburb, also has attended several practices at the team facility, most recently during spring break.
"Well, I can tell you that's all she did for spring break, was hockey," Rhonda Brown said. "It was four hockey games, it was two practices and waiting the hour and a half, two hours after practice hoping somebody would come out [after practice].
"[As we were driving up] she saw the logo [at their headquarters] from the highway and said, 'That's where Coach [Lindy] Ruff works.'"
Understandably, Chloe's room is covered with memorabilia featuring Fiddler and his teammates. Among her most cherished items are her No. 38 Fiddler jersey, several Fiddler sticks and a Fiddler bobblehead.
But her most favorite item might be her Fidd's Kids T-shirt, which she often sleeps in.
Fiddler has 22 points (12 goals) in 77 games this season with the Stars, his fifth with Dallas and 13th in the NHL.

He's also a father of two, so hearing what Chloe has endured thus far in her battle with ALL especially hit home, considering his own life has been impacted by leukemia.
"You can't even imagine what her mom's gone through," Fiddler said. "I lost a sister to leukemia when I was at a real young age. I don't remember a whole bunch of it, but being a parent now, you can't even imagine what the poor family has gone through.
"You just want to try to let them make memories and cheer them up as much as you can, because the path before this wasn't the greatest."
Thanks to the Stars app on her iPad, Chloe keeps close tabs on how Fiddler and the Stars are doing. And on the nights she can't watch them play because she has to go to bed, the first thing she does the next morning is ask her parents how they did and watch the Rewind on the Stars website.
Unfortunately, Chloe currently can't skate because a tumor in one of her legs has forced her to wear eight different casts. But Rhonda Brown won't rule out her daughter getting to skate in the future, knowing just how much it would mean to her to be able to lace them up like her favorite Star.
"Oh, she would love that," Rhonda said.

But Chloe's plans don't end with just wanting to skate. She also wants to one day work in the Stars organization, preferably in a capacity which would allow her to work alongside someone she loves almost as much as Fiddler.
"She plans on working for the Dallas Stars Foundation and being [Stars mascot] Victor E. Green's handler," Rhonda said. "That's what she wants to do. Victor E. Green, he ranks right up there with Vern Fiddler."
Chloe's affinity for Victor E. Green makes sense, considering she was wearing a hat featuring the Stars mascot when Fiddler flipped her the puck.
And like every Stars fan, Chloe can't wait for the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs because she feels they have as much chance as any team of going a long way, and even playing for the Cup for the first time since 2000.
"Oh, she's hoping for it to get the patch for her jersey," Rhonda said. "She believes they're going to make it. To her, it's simply amazing. She's going to be ecstatic."
As Chloe continues her own battle with ALL, Fiddler and his teammates draw inspiration from her.
"It's definitely an honor to be part of a League that commits so much back to off-ice stuff," Fiddler said. "There's little side things that each time … makes the NHL such a great League."