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By Larry Napolitano ’97
According to the American Cancer Society, there
are an estimated 1,334,700 new cases of cancer-related illness
in the United States this year, including an estimated 32,700
new cases in the state of Massachusetts. Cancer is the second
leading cause of death in the United States, exceeded only
by heart disease. The Holy Cross men’s ice hockey team
has decided to join the fight against this disease in honor
of two of its members.
On Sept. 1 of this year, the Crusaders will
participate in the fifth annual Massachusetts AFL-CIO “Walk
to Cure Cancer” at the UMass Medical School in Worcester
to honor the memory of fallen teammate Glenn Crane ’05
(Sterling Heights, Mich.), who died from Hodgkin’s disease
last December, and to show support for John Bombard ’04
(Port Jefferson, N.Y.), who was diagnosed with spinal cancer
last January.
“We got involved in the cancer walk through
Kerry Napolitano at UMass Medical School,” says Head
Coach Paul Pearl. “Obviously with the hardships we have
gone through with Glenn Crane and, now, with John Bombard
having the disease, it just seemed like the right thing to
do. You always try to think of ways to pay tribute and show
support for people. I think that this is a great way for
us to show to both of these guys how much they are truly
loved by their coaches and their teammates.”
In December of 2000, then a first-year hockey
player, Crane was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease after
playing in only four games. He missed a semester while undergoing
treatment for the disease and then returned to school in
the fall of 2001. He scored a goal in an exhibition game
against St. Nick’s in October of 2001 and then saw his
first collegiate action against Air Force on Oct. 19 of that
year.
After that game, Glenn suffered another relapse,
which cut his comeback short. He underwent intense chemotherapy
treatments and managed to start the 2002 academic year at
Holy Cross. Glenn was enrolled in classes and was listed
on the hockey roster, but unfortunately his condition deteriorated,
and he soon returned home.
“In the beginning, Glenn seemed to be
getting better. He was playing great,” Pearl says. “Then
he got sick again, and it was last year around Thanksgiving
that he took a turn for the worse.”
The Crusaders played at Findley on Nov. 29
and 30, and Glenn came to see the team for what proved to
be the final time. Coach Pearl received a phone call on Dec.
23 of 2002 from Glenn’s parents explaining that he had
finally succumbed to the disease.
“I feel like a better person for having
known him,” Pearl says. “Glenn is one of the best
kids I have ever met. He was a remarkable human being—just
a special person and a wonderful kid.”
Glenn’s death had a dramatic impact on
the team as the Crusaders lost 10 of 12 games midway through
the year.
“We were definitely feeling sorry for
ourselves midway through the year about Glenn’s death,
as would be expected,” Pearl says. “But the more
we heard from Glenn’s parents and the more we thought
about what Glenn taught us and spoke to us about, the more
we realized that there was nothing worse than for us to sit
around and say ‘woe is us, we lost a friend.’ Instead
we needed to consider ourselves lucky to have known Glenn.”
In
late January of 2003, the Holy Cross ice hockey team was
dealt another blow when forward John Bombard, who had not
played since the first month of the season, was diagnosed
with a cancerous tumor. The malignant tumor was found wrapped
around his spine, making treatment challenging.
“John is one of the toughest kids I have
ever met,” says Pearl. “That is how he has been
playing with a tumor on his spine for the last year. He was
in great shape coming in here for his fourth year, but he
started to lose the function of his legs, which is how they
found the tumor.”
John, who also was involved in ROTC, had played
in 88 games entering this season with four goals and eight
assists for 12 points. He played in a season-high 34 games
in 2001-02, scoring a career-high three goals, including
the game-tying goal in a 7-6 come-from-behind win over Air
Force. This season, John appeared in just one game, the third
game of the season against Air Force.
“I spoke with John after he was diagnosed,” says
Pearl. “He said, ‘Hey, we are going to beat this,
and everything is going to be fine.’ John told me that
he was going to be O.K. and I believe him.”
John returned to the team, unannounced, for “Senior
Day,” the last home game of the regular season against
Bentley, on March 7. The team’s reaction was outstanding.
“It meant a lot to the kids to have John
at the game,” Pearl says. “I also think that it
meant a lot to John to be there with them that night.”
In the game, the team came back from a 4-3
deficit early in the third period to defeat the Falcons,
6-4, clinching third place in the MAAC standings and a home
game in the first round of the MAAC tournament.
The tough stretch for the team midway through
the season with Glenn’s death and John’s diagnosis
could have broken the Crusaders’ spirit, but as Pearl
explains, it actually made them closer as a team.
“This team is unbelievably tight,” says
the coach. “They spend an inordinate amount of time
together, but I guess that happens when you take a 13-hour
bus ride out to Glenn’s funeral. With an experience
like that, these kids have a bond that is tighter than any
other team I have coached.”
This closeness as a team helped them deal with
John’s illness and realize that this is part of life.
“After a while,” says Pearl, “The
example of both John and Glenn drove home the point that
this is life, and this happens to different people every
day. When I went to the kickoff breakfast for the cancer
walk, I met a woman named Dottie Manning, who lost both her
husband and her son in the span of two years. Tragic things
happen to teams and families. But with these two things happening
to 18- and 19-year-old students, it is a little shocking.
Now the shock is over, and after seeing how hard and how
valiantly Glenn battled, and how John is battling now, it
creates a positive feeling.”
That positive feeling is one of several reasons
why the Crusaders are participating in the walk. The Walk
to Cure Cancer raises money to support cancer research at
the newly built Massachusetts AFL-CIO Cancer Research Center,
which encompasses the fourth floor of the new research laboratory
building on the UMass Medical School campus in Worcester.
The UMass Memorial Cancer Center is expanding its ability
to find new therapies and preventive ways to combat this
disease. These new laboratories are critical for its life-sustaining
and lifesaving mission.
“Every single player on our team is fired
up to do the walk,” Pearl says. “Some of these
players are pretty resourceful, and I think we will do very
well in terms of raising money. I know that the financial
part of this is secondary, but it is still very important,
and the team is really fired up.”
The Crusaders will honor Glenn again this season,
naming him honorary captain for the 2003-04 year. The team,
which wore Glenn’s number “9” on its jerseys
last season, made the decision that was wholeheartedly supported
by everyone on the team at the banquet this year.
“The seniors still really wanted to pay
tribute to Glenn this upcoming year,” Pearl says. “I
cannot think of a better way to honor him than by making
him an honorary captain and by kicking off the year by walking
for Glenn and John at the Walk to Cure Cancer this Labor
Day.”
For more information on how you can get involved
or help the Holy Cross hockey team in the Walk to Cure Cancer
on Sept. 1, call 508-856-1614 or 866-888-6277, or visit online
at www.walktocurecancer.com.
The
Holy Cross men’s hockey team and
the College community mourn the loss
of John Bombard, who lost his fight
with cancer as the summer issue of
HCM went into production.
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