Olczyk, cancer-free since March, has much to celebrate

CHICAGO -- As Eddie Olczyk dealt with stage 3 colon cancer, the "NHL on NBC" analyst set goals for himself. Whether he was getting back into the booth to call games, covering the Breeders' Cup horse racing event or attending daughter Zandra's graduation from the University of Alabama, the goals kept him focused.

Exactly one year after his diagnosis, there was one goal remaining: Olczyk was to watch son Eddie Jr. get married Saturday.
"I wasn't able to go to the engagement party (on Aug. 6, 2017) because of the tumor and the surgery," said Olczyk, also a Chicago Blackhawks TV analyst. "They set the date for Aug. 4 and I was like, jeez, it'll be the one-year anniversary, so to speak. I thought, OK, that's my last goal for the year, to make sure I'm around for that."
Olczyk had another reason for celebration: He is five months cancer-free.
Eddie Jr., an assistant coach for the Bemidji State University men's hockey team in Minnesota, said he and his fiancée, Erika, chose the wedding date because it was one of the few days open in an otherwise hectic summer.
"This is going to be obviously a great celebration for my future wife and I, but it'll probably be pretty emotional for my dad," Eddie Jr. said. "Having all these people so close to us in one room at that same time, and having that be a year to the day, it's going to be pretty special, pretty awesome."
Blackhawks radio analyst Troy Murray, Olczyk's longtime friend and Chicago teammate from 1984-87, said Olczyk is in a good place in his life.
"He's always been very emotional, that's the way he's wired," Murray said. "And obviously when he speaks about what's happened here in the last year, it puts everything in his life and a lot of other peoples' lives in perspective.

"He's always known what he has had. He's always had great, tremendous support with his family. But he wants to really embrace that moving forward and understand he fought a good battle and he won, and a lot of people don't win that battle. He's in a position now where he can use this last year to move him forward into the future with a more appreciative mindset of everything that he's blessed with in his life."
Olczyk, 51, announced he was cancer-free during the Blackhawks' home game against the Vancouver Canucks on March 22, saying, "We beat this thing." He said the support he got after his diagnosis was invaluable.
"I meant what I said when I announced I was cancer-free, I do believe we did it," said Olczyk, a forward who played 16 NHL seasons for the Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins. "There's no way, flat-out, full disclosure, no way I could've done that by myself. I do believe in prayer, I do believe in a cause and for some reason, there were so many people who were pulling for me and helping me get through this. This city, the places I laid my hat 16 years in the NHL, I just had so, so much support. I felt it was a team effort."
Olczyk is busy at work again. He emceed the Blackhawks Convention on July 27. He co-hosts "Kap & Company" with David Kaplan on ESPN 1000 in Chicago twice a week, usually Mondays and Fridays. He plans to work his normal Blackhawks/NBC broadcasting schedule this season, which is more than 120 games. Olczyk said he called about 40 games last season, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He mostly was in the booth during weeks he did not have chemotherapy, and also did studio work for NBC.
He's dealing with neuropathy, nerve damage that can result from chemotherapy, but said he's otherwise feeling good. After gaining weight from the steroids that accompany chemotherapy, Olczyk has lost 30 pounds and is back to his normal workout routine.
"He loves riding the bike in the morning, working up a sweat," Eddie Jr. said. "He's been working the Blackhawks hockey camps, making appearances. … For him to be able to get back into a routine, it's obviously a big relief. He's, from what I can tell, just about at 100 percent."

The thought of cancer never leaves Olczyk. "There's always that hesitation, or if I get a pain in my stomach, I wonder," he said.
But a year after his diagnosis, he could celebrate his son's wedding and being cancer-free, and he'll continue to get back to his normal life.
"It's always going to be with me. That's OK," Olczyk said. "Hopefully I can inspire one person to stay away from it, deal with it, and help someone along the way. Being busy is a great thing, and that's all I really know and that's the plan moving forward."