Fehervary to think of late mother on Capitals' Hockey Fights Cancer night

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Martin Fehervary's thoughts will undoubtedly turn to his late mother, Gabriela, during the Washington Capitals' Hockey Fights Cancer game against the Colorado Avalanche at Capital One Arena on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSWA, ALT, ESPN+, SN NOW).

Gabriela, who died of lung cancer in 2009, has been a source of inspiration throughout the 23-year-old's journey from promising young player growing up in Bratislava, Slovakia, to established NHL defenseman with Washington.
"She passed away when I was 9. That was a while ago," Fehervary said. "But still she was a big part of my life, and we had a really close relationship, so it was a tough loss. I'm always thinking once in a while about her."
But it will be difficult for Fehervary to surpass the special moment he had during Washington's Hockey Fights Cancer Night game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 14 of last season. Fehervary finished a short-handed 2-on-1 with Tom Wilson at 4:25 of the first period for the Capitals' first goal in a 6-1 victory.
Later that night, Fehervary posted on his Instagram account: "This one for u Mum!! I really miss you. #hockeyfightscancer."
It was Fehervary's second NHL goal, one he'll never forget.
"It was really emotional," Fehervary said. "All these things, I'm really happy the NHL does Hockey Fights Cancer. Those kind of things are really good, that opportunity to help someone. I know how hard it is to have someone in your family have cancer and battle through. So, it was really emotional. Especially when I scored the goal, it was a really good feeling, but emotional."

The middle child between younger sister Monika and older brother Gabriel, Fehervary said he might have been the closest among the three siblings with his mother. So it was difficult when Gabriela was diagnosed with lung cancer when he was 7.
"I was probably kind of like the mommy's boy," Fehervary said. "My sister was really young and my older brother, he was always just more like by himself. He didn't really show his emotions. But I was always with my mom and talked to her a lot and literally doing everything with her."
Though Fehervary was young, he remembers a lot about that those two years, including the chemotherapy treatments that caused his mother to lose her hair and feel ill.
"She was always feeling bad," he said. "I felt bad for her, but I was still happy when she came and picked me up from school. She didn't feel good, so I really appreciated those moments. Even when she was sick, she still came out for my games sometimes. So those are really good memories when she would show up at the game."
When Fehervary was 5, his parents and a small group of other parents dissatisfied with the Slovan Bratislava program decided to follow the lead of Adriana Hostovecka, a hockey mom who founded the Svist Hockey School. Fehervary's father, Mario, and his mother would take turns taking him to practices and games, and sometimes the entire family would travel to tournaments.
After Fehervary's mother was diagnosed, the parents and players from the Svist Hockey School, which also produced Calgary Flames forward Adam Ruzicka, became a support group as well.
"During the weekends when mom was sick, there were teammates that invited me home," he said. "I went and visited my teammates and went skiing with them or all kinds of things, like hockey tournaments. They tried to help overall."
That continued after Gabriela died and Mario was suddenly a single father of three.
"It was a really tight group," Fehervary said. "There weren't that many people and they tried to help each other, and they helped us a lot, all those parents and my teammates too. That was a really good feeling when someone is taking care of you."

Fehervary left Slovakia when he was 15 to play in Sweden. That was the next step toward him eventually being selected by the Capitals in the second round (No. 46) of the 2018 NHL Draft.
Fehervary's mother's encouragement and how she handled her cancer diagnosis were driving forces along the way.
"She had a big impact how she fought all the time and how she was always positive," he said. "I remember all those good things. She was a really big influence on my life. … She didn't probably think I'm going to be in the NHL, but she would be definitely proud. But she would support me in any other sport or any way I would choose if it would be a good way in life. That's always how she was. That inspired me a lot.
"Once it was something good and you had some purpose, then she was for it."
So Fehervary will take at least one moment Saturday to think about his mother and all that she did for him. Last season, it hit him when he returned to the Capitals bench after scoring his goal that "something special" had happened.
Fehervary would love to score another goal for his mother, especially because he has yet to score in 19 games this season.
"Yeah, it would be time, definitely," he said. "I'm not really thinking about [scoring], but I'm definitely looking to do the best I can every game and it will be a special night again."