Hamilton Honors Friend Thea on Hockey Fights Cancer Night | FEATURE

Dougie Hamilton sits in his stall, stoic as always. He spins his hockey stick in his hands. The blade goes round and round.
The name THEA flashes at every rotation, written in big, bold letters.
Talking about Thea Roelofsen isn't particularly easy for Hamilton, but she is always on his mind.
"She was so infectious and just, you had her smile and everything and it just drew me to her," Hamilton, "I don't know how to describe it but it's one of those things that just happens and kind of the whole thing has changed my life."
Thea was battling Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone cancer when she and Hamilton met.
Dougie met Thea while a member of the Calgary Flames as part of the annual hospital visits. The 6-6 defenseman was dressed up as Princess Leia for the brief encounter. They would meet again - by chance - on Saddledome ice as part of Calgary's Hockey Fights Cancer night.
Thea was part of the pregame ceremony and the two immediately recognized each other.
And that was it. From then on, they were part of each other's lives.
He would first visit Thea in the hospital in Calgary and towards the final days of her life, he would visit Thea at her home.
Hamilton, who is a gentle talker, speaks even more gently when he speaks about his friend Thea:
"She was one of those people that kind of, she was so infectious and just, her smile and everything and just drew me to her. She was so special."

It's hard to say whose life was impacted more, Dougie's or the Roelofsen's.
In 2019, Thea's parents
told Eric Francis of Sportsnet in Calgary
how Hamilton and his older brother Freddie would visit Thea, they'd play boardgames together, and he even once managed to pull both Thea and her sister out of school to go see a movie along with Freddie. It was the Lego Batman movie.
"Dougie gave her an escape from the monotony of sitting and doing chemotherapy and being in a hospital bed," Thea's mom told Sportsnet. "He gave her the relief of forgetting where she was."
The significance of meeting and forging the relationship with Thea and her family is clearly hard for Hamilton to put into words.
"You realize how lucky we are," he said, as he taped the top of his warmup stick with lavender tape."I think it also hit me a little bit with (having) one brother I'm close with."
Freddie is the older of the two Hamilton brothers, just 18 months older than Dougie.
"(Thea's) in her family, she was an older sister to her younger sister," Hamilton shared, "So that was just so relatable to me. And just thinking about the family and younger sister and how they're dealing with that and all that stuff. And I'm just imagining my life like that. It puts things into perspective and just to realize how lucky we are."
Thea has been gone since 2017, but the bond between Hamilton and the Roelofsen family remains strong. When the Devils were in Calgary to face the Flames, the Roelofsen's, like they always are, were at the Flames game cheering on their friend Dougie. Staying an extra night in Calgary gave Hamilton added time with them. And he speaks of them as if they are his own family.
"Brynn, (Thea's sister) is just growing," Hamilton said of seeing Brynn earlier this month. "She's growing and growing. I'm so used to hanging her upside down and whatnot. Not anymore. I don't think I could do that anymore."

Everything that Dougie does on Hockey Fights Cancer nights is with the Roelofsen's in mind.
Tonight, Hamilton will use a specially designed stick for warmups. Each an intricate nod to his friend. Thea loved emojis, Hamilton says, cracking a smile. And you'll see some of her favorites down the spine of his stick. The two would Snapchat, messages filled with emojis. Butterflies, winking faces, and lightning bolts. They're all on his stick tonight.

So is the name of the book inspired by Thea,
T-Bird and the Tiny Titan.
Thea is T-Bird and the book was originally written as a eulogy after Thea's passing, by her school principal Dr. Liana Appelt. It tells Thea's story in a way that is manageable for children, and just as Thea is never far from Dougie's thoughts, both Dougie and Freddie, significant parts of Thea's life, have cameo appearances in the book.
"All her emojis that gave her superpowers," Hamilton said pointing each one out. In the book, it reads:
"Dougie Hamilton began to feel an irresistible pull of positive energy through the open door on the left side of the hall. It engulfed him! He gave in to the urge to pop his Princess Leia head, buns included, through the doorway of T-Bird's room. 'Hey' he said. T-Bird's big toothy grin welcomed the digused hockey hero and, not missing a beat, she outed him, exclaiming: 'My parents LOVE YOU!!' And that was it. She had done it. T-Bird had her second superhero, one with an international audience to help propel her mission of love."

The stick will go to Thea's family, it has every year since her passing in 2017. It's just another way that Hamilton continues to honor his friend.
"She was so special," Hamilton said with a crack in his voice, holding back the deep emotion of talking about his friend, "I'm just trying to keep remembering her. And (her) family is so special. Whatever I can do for them, I'm going to do."