Each month, the New York Islanders and Northwell Health are spotlighting two strong and inspiring children battling cancer in continuous support of pediatric cancer patients all season long.
Sports are everything for Owen Shouldice. The energetic teen played four of them growing up - hockey, lacrosse, baseball and soccer - and like many young kids, aspired to play professionally someday.
In May 2022, during what the Shouldice family thought was just a concussion that Owen suffered while competing, turned out to an unimaginable result. The CAT scan revealed that the hockey centerman was set to take the biggest face-off of his life. He was diagnosed with a Non-Germinomatous Germ Cell Tumor (NGGCT) on Jun. 4, 2022.
He was in shock, but he had an unwavering belief that he’ll come out on the other side.
“I didn’t process it right away,” Owen said. “I didn’t have any assumptions besides the fact that I was going to beat it.”
While he frequently loved to go play hockey with his dad, sports took a back seat through his treatment, and it was the beach at his family’s house on Fire Island that he refused to miss.
Family and the outdoors kept him going.
“I’d be trying to get through my chemo cycles and ... [the beach] was all I was looking forward to,” Owen said.
The middle schooler showcased incredible resilience when he was sick. In February of 2023, he was diagnosed with Somnolence Syndrome, a temporary condition of extreme drowsiness and lethargy that typically occurs weeks after completing radiation for brain tumors.
It was a setback for Owen, who was determined to make an incredible comeback that he was able to make through the support of his parents and older sister.
“One of the reasons I was able to stay so strong was because my parents, my oncologist, Julie Krystal, and a chaplain named Adrian Mazur supported me very strongly throughout the entire process,” Owen said. “They were there for me whenever I needed help and spent so much time just trying to make me feel better cancer wise and mental health wise.”
Owen finished treatment the day before New Year’s Eve in 2022. He was playing hockey a week after, lacrosse the following spring and picked up volleyball, which is now his second favorite sport.
“I didn’t let my crummy situation get me down,” Owen said. “I kept pushing forward and kept living my life. I didn’t just give up on what I wanted to do.”
Owen attended two of the New York Islanders’ Hockey Fights Cancer (HFC) nights, in 2022 and 2025, both of which he spoke very highly of.
“The Islanders Hockey Fights Cancer [was] one of the best experiences of my life,” Owen said. “It was incredible to see other people who had gone through the same struggle as me.”
He dropped the puck the first time he attended three years ago. This season Owen participated again, where he reconnected with former hockey teammate and fellow HFC night attendee, Charlie Macaluso.
Owen’s mother, Carla Shouldice, expressed a similar sense of gratitude with what sports, and specifically the Islanders, can do during tough times like a cancer battle.
“Sports teams and their players play a critical part in helping the kids who are struck by such awful illnesses each day,” Carla said. “While it may only bring a small smile during a very difficult time, we’ll take all the smiles we can get.”
With inspiring toughness, both physically and mentally, and maturity, the sky is truly the limit for Owen Shouldice.
