Williams column: UWSP's Brodie deals with cancer scare

STEVENS POINT Members of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's hockey team stepped on the ice at K.B. Willett Arena on Oct. 20 for the first time since last spring.

The dingy smell of the locker room. Lacing up the skates again.

For a hockey player it doesn't get any better.

For UWSP senior defenseman Kyle Brodie, the chance to pull on his breezers again and be on the ice meant so much more.

Shortly after the Pointers' run to the NCAA Division III national championship game March 22 in Lewiston, Maine, Brodie received some devastating news. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer over the summer.

This simply isn't suppose to happen to a strapping athlete in the prime of his college hockey career.

Here was a West Region All-American defenseman and All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference performer with the Division III hockey world at his feet.

While the disease obviously impacts you physically, perhaps even more debilitating is the emotional toll.

Brodie was scared and confused, so he turned to UWSP coach Chris Brooks for some answers and support.

"Kyle called me in the summer, I think I was taking my son (Barrett) out for a round of golf, and he told me what they found, the prognosis and the treatment," Brooks said. "He leaned on me for the emotional stuff.

"I assured him they found it early enough to put him in a good spot to have a full recovery."

Brooks had recently been through his own medical crisis. In his second season with the Pointers, he needed thyroid surgery, so he could relate on many levels to what Brodie was going through.

Hockey became secondary to his health and family. Something that has meant so much to Brodie suddenly seemed inconsequential. The priority was to get him right physically and emotionally — not matter how long it took or if he played another game as a Pointer.

Determined to fight the disease and continue his promising hockey career, Brodie underwent treatment and was back on campus for the first day of classes.

He missed out on several months of training over the summer, so his conditioning is lacking. Brooks estimates he's at about 80 percent, "but Kyle Brodie at 80 percent is a pretty good defenseman at this level," so there is no desire to rush him back with the season opener set for Saturday against Finlandia.

Meanwhile, his teammates have the utmost respect for Brodie as a hockey player, according to their coach.

The players have even more respect for him as a person and what he has gone through to return to the special place that is a hockey locker room.

Brodie was on their minds at the first captains meeting of the season. Junior forward Josh Daley was so inspired he designed a special T-shirt in his honor.

http://athletics.uwsp.edu/news/2014/10/11/MHOCK_1011141646.aspx

Coach Brooks purchased a shirt for all the players, and once the word spread, demand for the T-shirts has increased.

All the proceeds from the sales will go to the annual "Put a Check on Cancer Night" scheduled for the game with Bethel on Jan. 31.

And the best part about that night will be seeing Brodie suited up and battling in the corners again, doing what hockey players love.

Scott A. Williams can be reached at 715-345-2282. Find him on Twitter as @SPJScottWill