Hawerchuk completes final round of chemotherapy

Dale Hawerchuk completed his final round of chemotherapy Monday, his son Eric announced on Twitter.

"Today my dad finished his final round of chemo Protocol in Barrie. Got to ring the "Bell of Hope" on his way out. "We hope" this is the end of a long journey but he's ready for anything. Thanks to everyone who has reached out. Means the world to us. Thinking of you all #DaleStrong"

Hawerchuk, who turned 57 on April 4, took a leave of absence from his job as coach of Barrie in the Ontario Hockey League on Sept. 3 for medical reasons. About six weeks later, he revealed he was diagnosed with stomach cancer in June. He had a gastrectomy in January.

"It's like somebody told me, it's like being bag-skated for a week solid," Hawerchuk

told NHL.com

on Nov. 10. "You just suck it up and do it if you want to make it. If they told you you could make the NHL if you bag-skated for a full week for two months, you'd say, 'OK, I'll do that.' Here, you're trying to save your life, so it's, 'Yeah, I'll do that.'"

Hawerchuk went to his doctor in June, complaining of acid reflux, no appetite and some weight loss. A first CT scan was negative, but he said he knew something was wrong, so he urged his doctor to keep probing.

The cancer was found three weeks later.

"It really strips you down," Hawerchuk said. "You feel like, man, you don't know if you're going to make it, the chemo hits you so hard. But I'm still young and they're telling me everything else is good, all my organs are good, so I should be able to fight this."

Selected No. 1 by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1981 NHL Draft, Hawerchuk had 1,409 points (518 goals, 891 assists) in 1,188 games for the Jets, Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues and Philadelphia Flyers over 16 seasons (1981-1997). He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.