When Bruce Apel was bravely battling multiple myeloma for 11 years, enduring three stem cell transplants and numerous hospitalizations, he always managed to keep a positive attitude despite constantly being in an incredible amount of pain.
"He would say, 'You know, I'm thankful I live in Pittsburgh,'" his brother Carl said. "Because we have the Hillman Cancer Center, where people come from all over the country, even the world, to go there…and because we got the Penguins.'"
HFC Jerseys Honor Pens Season Ticket Holders Affected by Cancer
After Bruce passed away on Dec. 28, 2011, he asked to be buried in his beloved Penguins jersey, and his family members wore theirs to the funeral home. So to have his name among those that are listed on the numbers of the Penguins' commemorative warmup jerseys for Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Night is something that would have been such a thrill for Bruce.
"He would just be so honored and so humbled," Carl said.
The numbers on the back of the warmup jerseys for tonight's game versus Philadelphia feature a total of 200 names, which were submitted by Penguins season ticket holders.
Those names honor the season ticket holders themselves, as well as their immediate family members that have been impacted by cancer. It could be the name of someone currently battling cancer, a survivor, or someone who lost their fight.
"The ticketing group was the driving force behind this idea," said Amanda Susko, Penguins Senior Director of Foundation Programs and Strategic Planning. "They had learned of a lot of stories of their own season ticket holders who had cancer, or members of their family who maybe currently fighting cancer. They wanted to see if we could use the jerseys as a way to recognize those in the fight, so it was an initiative really led by them."
And what makes this initiative even more special is that next to each person's name is the colored ribbon indicating the type of cancer that has impacted them. That was a choice made by general manager Ron Hextall and president of hockey operations Brian Burke.
"When we work with Pro Knitwear on jersey designs, they give us a few different options, and then we actually share them with Brian Burke and Ron Hextall through (head equipment manager) Jon Taglianetti," Susko said. "Burke and Hextall decide on the design option, and they picked the one that had the colored ribbons. That made them very unique."
It's a process that began back in August, and one that was so worth it, especially after going through the incredibly inspirational tributes which accompanied each of the names submitted.
"To see how much our team has meant to either their family member or to the process of getting better - coming to games and forgetting about what has happened - I had chills reading some of these," said Erin Exley, Penguins Senior Director of Ticket Marketing and Operations.
"There's truly a hockey connection to all of these people's stories. I feel that for these families, it's so special to honor or remember or to celebrate the person in their life that they share this hockey connection with, and to give them some support and inspiration as well."
That is certainly the case for Chris Houp and his wife Corrie. Chris had started playing hockey at age 3, and skated for several local teams before moving to Boston to play for the Junior Bruins. When he was 19, Chris was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and came back to Pittsburgh to undergo surgery before going through three weeks of radiation.
He had to give up his dream of playing professionally, and to go from being at the rink nearly every day to not skating at all after his career got cut short caused a huge void in his life - one that Corrie could see after they met not long after his final treatments.
"He was definitely missing it," she said. "He wouldn't talk about it a whole lot, but whenever the subject got brought up yet, he would have tears in his eyes. By going to Penguins games, it's definitely a way to fill that void for him."
Like many of the fans who have been impacted by cancer, the Penguins' annual Hockey Fights Cancer Nights have always been especially meaningful to the Houps.
Corrie said that since Chris is so humble about his hockey career and being a cancer survivor, she always gets an "I Fight For" sign with his name on it along with a lavender T-shirt. To know that his name will actually be featured on a players' jersey - including Sidney Crosby's - makes it all hit home so much more.
"Right now, he has tears in his eyes," Corrie said.
Rosalie Kasperik's name will be featured on all of the No. 2's, which her family is delighted by - seeing as their last name is the first name and initial of No. 42, Kasperi Kapanen.
"I was like, that's perfect," Rosalie's son Jim said with a laugh. "It works out really well."
Jim can't say enough about the wonderful person that his mother is, as Rosalie is a generous and caring person who is always taking care of others - most recently her husband Bob, who passed away from colon cancer in 2014 after having a stroke a few years prior to that. Rosalie herself is a two-time brain cancer survivor, having two tumors removed since April 2019.
Rosalie is also a huge Penguins fan, who always wears her team gear on game days and leaves family dinners early so that she can make it home in time for puck drop, with Jim trying to get her to as many games as possible during the season. They're attending together tonight, and can't wait to see how the sweaters look in person.
"Being the person that she is, she doesn't crave attention. At the same time, my cousins - who are big fans - are like, this is so great, this is such a cool thing for her, because she deserves it," Jim said. "So she was very excited."
That sort of recognition is exactly what the Penguins are after.
"It's going to be so personal to them and their families," said Cindy Himes, Director of Community/Alumni Relations for the Penguins Foundation. "The HFC game is going to mean so much more to them than it would have before, just because of their involvement in it. They're sort of being included individually."
"Any time you can do something with the players that impacts the season ticket holders in such a tremendous way, in such a personal way…that really hits home," agreed Susko.
The jerseys will be auctioned off, with proceeds benefiting the Mario Lemieux Foundation and the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. It will run from November 4-10. Fans can bid by texting PensHFC to 76278 or visiting
pensHFC.givesmart.com
.
