Golden Knights Return Home For Special Hockey Fights Cancer Knight

Puck cancer.

After a two-game mini-road trip, the Vegas Golden Knights will return home tomorrow night for a 7:00 p.m. matchup against the Ottawa Senators. But this game won’t be your typical mid-November matchup, as it will be Hockey Fights Cancer Knight at T-Mobile Arena.

The Golden Knights will wear special purple warmup jerseys, which will then be auctioned off from 5:45 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. Locker nameplates will be bundled with jerseys, and warm-up pucks will be on sale in Sections 11 and 12. Fans can go to sections 9 and 10 during the game to pick up an “I fight for sign.”

Portions of the proceeds from the game will be donated to the Donskov Scholarship (in memory of assistant coach Misha Donskov’s father), Kay’s Power Play (in memory of Shea Theodore’s grandmother), and the Cure 4 The Kids Foundation. Cancer patients and survivors will be honored during the game.

Cancer has affected nearly everyone’s lives, and for two members of the Golden Knights, it has affected them directly as both Phil Kessel and Shea Theodore have had testicular cancer.

Phil Kessel

In 2007, Kessel was diagnosed with cancer at just 19 years old. He was just starting to emerge as a player within the Boston Bruins organization until the disease sidelined him. albeit for only 11 games.

“It’s not easy. It opens your eyes quick. You learn, and you grow up pretty quick. It changed who I am. It changes your perspective on life a little, in that sense. Obviously, you never know what can happen in life. Life’s short,” Kessel told Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com.

Kessel went on to win the NHL’s Masterton Trophy that season and then turn into an arguable Hockey Hall of Famer with two Stanley Cups, over 400 career goals, and now the record for consecutive games played in the NHL that continues to add up to over 1,000 straight games.

Shea Theodore

For Shea Theodore, his diagnosis came in the summer of 2019, when he was already an established player in the NHL. Luckily he and his doctors were able to identify his cancer early on. Theodore encourages others to try and do the same.

“It’s definitely a scary thing, but it’s something that happens to a lot of people, and they push through it. People persevere, and it definitely changes your outlook on life. It’s an honor to tell my story and hopefully influence a lot of people to get screened,” Theodore told Jesse Granger of the Athletic.

Theodore continues to donate money for cancer awareness and, in 2020, created Kay’s Power Play fund, which honors his grandmother Kay who lost her battle to breast cancer.

Manny Viveros

One more member of the Golden Knights organization is currently going through his battle with prostate cancer, and that is Henderson Silver Knights head coach Manny Viveros.

“It certainly hasn’t been easy,” said Viveiros. “I’ve been very fortunate to have such wonderful support from my family and the VGK organization. I feel like I’m getting back to almost being 100 percent,” Viveros told Tina Nguyen of KTNV.

This diagnosis has led to Viveros taking a handful of medicinal absences from the Silver Knights. He is currently back with the team. Best wishes to him in his battle with the disease.

The Golden Knights and Senators will drop the puck at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday in a nationally televised game only on TNT and Fox Sports 98.9 FM Radio.