The UT Spartans club ice hockey team hosted the University of South Florida Ice Bulls at the St. Pete Times Forum on Tuesday, Nov. 15, and lost in a close game, 5-4.
The Spartans decided to turn the game into a benefit night for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, a cause that hits close to home.
One of the members of their team, Curtis McIntyre, suffers from a rare form of lymphoma.
McIntyre had thought he was in remission when he received the devastating news recently that he had relapsed.
“We were stunned to learn that Curtis’ lymphoma had returned, especially since just a few weeks before he had announced in the locker room after a game that he had been declared ‘cancer free’,” said Dr. Steve Kucera, head coach of the team. The news was shocking to Curtis’ friends and family as well, including Charly Stinson and Jenn Velandia, two of Curtis’ close friends.
“We’ve only just gotten to know Curtis in the past couple months, but it feels like we’ve known him for much longer,” said Velandia.
“As soon as Jenn and I found out that Curtis had relapsed, we knew we wanted to do something,” said Stinson.
“During times like these, it’s so easy to feel helpless and not know what you can do. We knew that this was something that would make Curtis really happy, especially at a time when he isn’t feeling so great.”
The team was quick to support the cause too.
“We were all shocked to hear the news about Curtis and we want to show him our support,” said Axel Aspeborg, another goaltender on the team.
“He’s obviously going through a lot and it means a lot to him to see the team is on his side. We’re trying to help him out as much as we can,” Baccoli added.
“Curtis has been very strong through this entire thing. Our guys care a lot about Curtis because he does so much for our team and I think it says a lot about team that we want to step up and do this for him.”
The game was free and open to the public, but donations were accepted.
April Weiner can be reached at april.weiner@spartans.ut.edu.