Colorado Avalanche Players Talk about Hockey Fights Cancer

Colorado Avalanche players weigh in on the Hockey Fights Cancer initiative, a yearly campaign in the NHL.

The Colorado Avalanche, along with the rest of the NHL, are supporting the Hockey Fights Cancer initiative. This initiative aims to unite the hockey community to support cancer patients and their families.

One of the ways players do this is through raising awareness. Every team designates a game for Hockey Fights Cancer — Colorado’s was last night against the Carolina Hurricanes. The players wore lavender-colored warm-up jerseys, and there were many other awareness activities as well.

Here’s winger Mikko Rantanen taping his stick in lavender, the official color for the initiative:

As part of the initiative, some players even spoke about what Hockey Fights Cancer means to them.

Avs defenseman Mark Barberio talked about how the initiative brings the hockey community together with the idea of eventually finding a cure for cancer:

Center and alternate captain Nathan MacKinnon remarked on how unfortunately widespread cancer is, leading to “Everybody knows somebody” affected by cancer:

MacKinnon’s own “I Fight For” placard says “Mom.”

Colorado Avalanche captain and left wing Gabriel Landeskog drives home the point that it’s about more than just raising money and awareness:

For the third year in a row, Landeskog’s “I Fight For” placard reads “Basse,” who was a close friend of Gabriel’s who watched both his parents die from cancer.

Forward A.J. Greer has made it even more personal:

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He talked about how his great-grandmother died from lung cancer. He also mentioned that his own mother had fought and beaten cancer.

However, Greer has taken the fight one step further. Last year, while in San Antonio with the Rampage, he made raising awareness of childhood cancer a top priority by visiting local hospitals weekly and providing game tickets and locker room tours for cancer patients and their families.

What’s more, Greer was an active participant in all Rampage cancer awareness activities, including the Face Off Against Kids Cancer and Pink in the Rink events. Because of his involvement in these events, Greer won the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award as AHL Man of the Year last year.

During the Colorado Avalanche’s Hockey Fights Cancer night, they created an impressive mosaic. Here’s Altitude Radio talent Marc Moser talking about the mosaic:

And here’s the complete mosaic:

Next: All About AJ Greer

In addition to raising awareness, Hockey Fights Cancer aims to raise funds, which are distributed to both local and national cancer organizations.

If you want to donate directly to the initiative, you can do so via the official website.

As seen above, you can also purchase Colorado Avalanche-themed Hockey Fights Cancer gear.