Stothers Ready for 'Just Another Battle' with Ducks Family Behind Him

Ducks assistant coach Mike Stothers made a difficult and selfless announcement Saturday morning.
The quick-witted 61-year-old, now in second season behind the bench in Anaheim, has Stage 3 Melanoma of the Lymph Node and has already begun treatment at UCI Health.
Stothers provided details to local media this past weekend, describing the emotions of hearing the news from his doctors, his plans to continue coaching and the process on informing his loved ones and Ducks family.
But more important to the man known around the game as "Stutts" was not his own condition or outlook and certainly not any potential sympathy, but a simple message to those in the sport and beyond: "Listen to your body."

Stothers described first finding a bump on his leg in November and recalled thinking it was likely a hernia or something of the sort. It wasn't until later that he got checked out, a delay the coach called a misstep he wants others to avoid, especially in a sport known for its toughness.
The coach acknowledged the same mentality that leads players to persevere through adversity, working through injuries and sacrificing your body for the good of the team, can also bring unintended, yet severe consequences.

"If you're not feeling good or something concerns you, don't wait," Stothers said. "The mentality of the hockey world is we play through anything, we're invincible and nothing can happen to us. Well, that's true, but unfortunately it does happen to us. I think the message has to get out to everybody that your health is first and foremost and a lot can be done if you get to these things early.
"Honestly, I didn't want to miss any time. I didn't want to miss a practice. I didn't want to miss a game. But it got to a point where I was like, This is not normal...What I'm saying, what I want to get out there is perhaps that's not as important as just going ahead and getting it looked at."
Stothers is a private man by nature, and certainly stepped outside his comfort zone in making the announcement, but he strongly believes speaking about his experience furthers a cause bigger than himself, while also providing some therapeutic value.

"It's really hard but, in the strangest way, the more I talk about it, the more I can get it out there without [getting emotional]," Stothers said. "I'm a dad and my whole life as a player, I was a kind of a protector of my teammates and stuff like that. I'm figuring, well now maybe it's a time to help protect others from something turning into more than what it should have been.
"It's not easy to stand here and talk about this, but as I do it, I'm feeling more and more comfortable that this is what I should be doing."
To Stothers' teammates and colleagues, the fact that he was primarily focused on helping others in such a difficult time was just another example of the character of a man so many admire.
"For me and for us, it's no surprise," head coach Dallas Eakins said. "He is one of the most caring, selfless people I know. For him to handle it this way is not surprising it all. His main concern is, How can I help someone else get ahead of where I am right now? That's all you need to know about him."
Ask anyone around Stothers - whether it's a player who served underneath him, a coach who shared the bench with him or even a completely terrified intern (as I was) providing intermission stats to then the head coach of the AHL's Ontario Reign, while he intensely (and correctly) argued a blown call. They'll all tell you the same thing: Stutts is as tough as they come.

"He's not afraid to tell you the truth, whether you want to hear it or not," Eakins said of his longtime friend. "He has an exceptional love for his players.
"If there is one thing I know about Mike, it's that he never, ever walks away from any adversity or confrontation. He runs right in the middle. That's going to be his attack plan on his circumstance now. And I'm glad that's always been the mindset in his personal life."
The tight-knit hockey community, including those in Southern California and beyond, made that opinion heard loud and clear all weekend, letting Stothers known he is not in this fight alone.

"It means everything to us to be able to support him," Cam Fowler said. "I hope he knows he has the support of everyone in this organization."
"It's what teamwork, friendship and camaraderie are all about," Kevin Shattenkirk said. "We've been working with Stutts for a long time. He's someone who always supports us. We're ready to go all out, above and beyond for him. Whatever we can do."
"The amount of people that have reached out has been terrific," Stothers said through a smile. "There have been a lot of people that maybe you were unaware have gone through similar situations, whether themselves directly or their family, and have said, 'If you have any questions or if there's anything we can do, any way we can help.' That's been terrific and I appreciate it."

Stothers intends to continue coaching while he undergoes treatment but acknowledged he needs to prioritize his health before hockey right now.
He will not travel with the Ducks on their upcoming road trip but will be put to work in full remotely, according to Eakins. And Stothers was very clear with those in the building, don't you dare walk on eggshells around him.
"If you do tip-toe by him, he is going to grab you and shake it out of you," Eakins said with a laugh.

"If you got a [freaking] good joke or a [freaking] good barb at me, throw it out there cuz I'll throw it right [freaking] back at you," Stothers said with his classic edge. "It might be a little bit of a battle, but I've never [freaking] backed away from a battle all my life. I'm ready for this one, too."