Sad news came to the hockey world Tuesday when it was announced that former Rangers center and current Devil Brian Boyle has chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). The Devils’ team internist, Dr. Michael Farber, said on a conference call it is a “type of cancer to the bone marrow which is largely treatable with medications. He seems to be early on in this disease.”
The diagnosis didn’t occur until Boyle went for his physical before training camp, and it’s unknown exactly when he will be able to start his treatment and therefore set up a timeline for his return to the ice. Yet with his standard candor, which has endeared him to so many in the hockey community over the years, Boyle took the news with aplomb and was focusing on his eventual return.
“For us, we’re in a good spot,” Boyle said, speaking about his wife, Lauren, and their two children, both under the age of 3. “We have a good plan of attack here, and I’m looking forward to getting on the ice and playing, to be honest. When that happens, I don’t know. But my mindset is Oct. 7 [opening night], to be honest with you. I don’t like missing games.
“But it’s just a thing you have to deal with, we have to deal with it, and that’s for us to deal with. Hopefully the season can go on as normal and regular as possible, and we don’t have to be asking about it all the time. If I suck one night, it’s because I suck, not because of any other reason. Hopefully, if that’s the biggest issue, than that’s a good thing.”
Boyle is one of 13 children from a Irish-Catholic Boston family, and he also is a man of faith. On Tuesday night, he was hosting the priest who married him and his wife in New York City while Boyle was with the Rangers. It’s with that faith that he hopes to endure whatever lies ahead of him.
“I feel very fortunate, very blessed,” said Boyle, who was in high school when his father Arthur was diagnosed with kindey and lung cancer — from which he recovered. “We’ve had a tremendous outpouring of prayers, and I think if there is anything I can ask, it’s that that continues. That is something that I’ve seen firsthand heal cancers and heal situations that are said to be untreatable.”
Boyle, 32, signed a two-year, $5.5 million deal with the Devils this summer after spending last season with the Maple Leafs and the three before that with the Lightning. He originally was drafted by the Kings with the 26th-overall selection in the 2003 draft, and played there two seasons before joining the Rangers in 2009. He became a mainstay as the Blueshirts’ fourth-line pivot, and was an integral part of the team that went to the 2014 Stanley Cup final.
One good precedent for Boyle is that CML is the same disease with which former Islander Jason Blake was diagnosed in 2007. Blake returned to play six more seasons in the NHL, and when Boyle heard that on the conference call, he offhandedly brought New Jersey general manager Ray Shero into the mix, already kidding about getting a new deal.
“It’s a two-year contract Brian,” Shero kidded back. “Let’s get the performance part down first.”
Of course, Shero had to consider the effect this will have on his young team as it tries to make the playoffs for the first time in five years. But above that, he was thinking about the well-being of someone for whom he — and everyone else — has a ton of respect.
“He’s been incredibly strong, and certainly a man of faith,” Shero said. “The glass is half full here moving forward.”
For now, Boyle is looking to getting on his road to recovery, and from there, he can start thinking about playing hockey again.
“Depends on how [long] this treatment process takes, but I feel good, as feel as close to normal as you can feel,” Boyle said. “I’m looking forward to getting back into it.”