FEATURE: Napier, Oilers Alumni face off against Alzheimer's

Former Oilers right-winger Mark Napier and his family remember Jim Hughes as a man of many talents.
A gifted athlete, a skilled card player (despite being a bad bluffer), and a man who could always whip up the most delicious Sunday dinners complete with Yorkshire Pudding, his unwavering love and support for his family helped instill within them a strong sense of home and togetherness.
But the father-in-law they knew slowly faded as time passed during his long battle with Lewy Body Dementia, a form of Alzheimer's Disease that followed Jim until his death at the age of 90 in October of 2015.
- 2018 Alzheimer's FaceOff Pro-Am

"It's like having two deaths," said Napier, a Stanley Cup champion with the Oilers in 1984-85. "You go to see him and he doesn't remember you or much of anything. You just try to make them laugh and smile as that's about all you can do.
"It was heartbreaking to watch him go from such an intelligent and vibrant man before to what the disease eventually made of him."
Napier and several of his fellow Oilers Alumni will play for friends, family and the 45,000-plus Albertans living with the disease at the Alzheimer's FaceOff Pro-Am at the Terwillegar Recreation Centre this weekend, April 27-29. The two-day tournament pairing amateur players with NHL alumni to raise funds for Alzheimer's research enters its 10th year of play and has already surpassed an annual fundraising contribution of $1.3 million.

"When I do come back for the tournament it's a lot of the same people still playing, so it's great to see guys you maybe only see once a year and you just kind of pick up where you left off," added Napier. "I've played on several different teams with a lot of different players, and a lot of them are there because this awful disease has touched them in some way."

Napier, whose 14-year NHL career included two-and-a-half seasons with the Oilers from 1984-87, met his wife Jan through former teammate Pat Hughes when the two played together as members of the Oilers 1984-85 Stanley Cup-winning team. The 61-year-old saw firsthand the effects of Lewy Body Disease, a form of Alzheimer's that affects one's higher mental functions such as memory, language, and reasoning, through his father-in-law after settling back in his hometown of Toronto after retiring in 1993.
"Over time he began to forget things, whether it was going for a walk and getting lost or just not remembering where he put his car keys," said Napier. "At the start you just attribute it to old age and forgetfulness but from there it just got worse and worse. We're lucky we got him some good care here in Toronto and they were able to diagnose it properly."
A long-time servant to the transportation industry in Ontario, Napier remembers watching his father-in-law's mental health degrade over the years despite living an active and fulfilling life before his diagnosis.
"The problem was physically he was very healthy but mentally he lost all his function," Napier added. "You could see the person you knew and loved, but when speaking to him he basically had no idea who you were."
The impact on the individual from the different forms of Alzheimer's can often go hand-in-hand with the toll taken on the families who are left with the unfortunate burden of caring for their loved ones, often times for years, following their original diagnosis.
"It's so tough because he was really close with his grandchildren," Napier added. "I think the toughest part for us was my wife's mother, who was his primary caregiver. It took a huge toll on her emotionally looking after him and trying to be there for him at every moment. It was really tough on all of us.
"It's such a terrible disease and you just hope we can do our little part to find a cure for it."

Napier was regularly involved with Alzheimer's awareness as the Executive Director of the NHL Alumni Association from 2004-16. The cause hit closer to home in 2007 following his father-in-law's diagnosis, which put the contributions and commitments of the dedicated participants at events such as this weekend's Alzheimer's FaceOff Pro-Am into perspective.
"We put our full force behind starting that event then two or three years later it started to hit closer to home," Napier added. "You see why the people associated with the tournament have such a commitment to it, and that's because they've gone through this or seen friends and family go through this horrible disease.
"The bright side is that hopefully the money we raise through these tournaments can find a cure for it. So there's good and the bad that comes with it. Personally I just try to do anything I can to raise money and grow awareness for the cause."
Teams entered in the Alzheimer's FaceOff raise a minimum of $25,000 and select alumni to play for their teams, with draft order determined based on total donations contributed. Napier and his counterparts are looking forward to a weekend of good hockey and plenty of laughs for an Alzheimer's cause close to the hearts of everyone involved in the tournament.
"It really is like coming home," Napier said of returning to Edmonton. "For the Alumni the tournament is so well-organized and it's a pleasure for us to play in, and the participants get to spend almost two full days with a lot of the Alumni.
"They dress, play and go for chicken wings after with us, so it's a lot of fun on their part and a lot of old stories about players they used to love watching."