Laperriere Carries Dad's Spirit Years After Cancer Battle
(from NHL.com)
By Chuck Gormley
NHL.com Correspondent
October 29, 2009 - Philadelphia Flyers right wing Ian Laperriere saw his teammates gather with their fathers for a group photo following a recent game and felt his heart ache.
The Flyers conducted their annual Father-Son road trip to Washington this week, and although more than six years have passed since his father lost his valiant battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 55, Laperriere still feels his loss.
"It was hard when he passed and it's still hard today," the 35-year-old Laperriere said. "I still wish he could be here."
November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, and with the NHL's "Hockey Fights Cancer" campaign under way, Laperriere often reminds his teammates how fortunate they are to have their fathers.
"I tell the young guys, 'Enjoy, I wish I could do that with my dad now.' When you're young you don't think you're ever going to lose your dad. So I tell them to enjoy him because you never now what can happen."
A former football and hockey player, Michel Laperriere was 52 and enjoying dinner with Ian and his wife, Magali, when Ian first noticed his father's skin was discolored.
"I remember it like it was yesterday," Laperriere said. "We were in my house having dinner and I turned around and said, 'Dad, your skin's yellow.' My Mom said, 'I told you, Michel.' "
Michel Laperriere met with a specialist two days later and was told he might have cancer of the pancreas.
"That shocked everybody, but as a doctor you just can't sugar-coat it," Laperriere said. "Unfortunately, the doctor was right. It was one of those moments you don't wish on anybody, but it's part of life, I guess. You always think that happens to other families and you don't want to think it can happen to you."
Laperriere said he and his wife immediately went on their computer and looked up pancreatic cancer on the Internet. They learned that less than 30 percent of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer live more than three years and less than five percent survive five years.
"That crushed us even more," Laperriere said.
Michel Laperriere, a longtime supervisor for Kraft Foods in Montreal, was placed on chemotherapy and stunned his doctors by going into remission for two years.
"He felt great," Laperriere recalled.
It was in November 2002, when he was with the Los Angeles Kings, that Laperriere first noticed his father's condition worsening. The Laperrieres had just had their first of two sons, Tristan, and Ian booked a flight for his father to come to L.A. to see his new grandson.
"Right away, when he got off the plane he looked tired," Laperriere said. "I'm thinking, 'Well, the man's been through a lot the last couple years. But he was tired more than I'd ever seen my dad. He couldn't walk a few feet without being out of breath. He didn't have the energy to play with his grandson."
Laperriere took his father to the Kings' team physician, who saw that his blood count was low. Michel Laperriere underwent a blood transfusion and in a follow-up visit a lump on his neck was found. Another round of chemotherapy was ordered.
The Kings failed to make the 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and a few days after the season, Laperriere phoned his father and noticed he did not sound well.
"Listen, we're coming back (to Montreal) on Tuesday," Laperriere told his father. "You're not feeling good and I want to be by you."
Two days later, on April 11, 2003, Laperriere received a call from his aunt telling him his father had passed.
"It's one of those things I'll live with," Laperriere said. "He was happy we were coming, but that was the last I talked to him.
"He was a great, great man. You hear about relationships where the father and son don't like each other -- mine was totally the opposite. He was my best friend. I talked to him every day, game day or no game day. We talked about anything."
Laperriere said his father's death renewed in him his responsibilities as a father, as a husband and as a role model to children who looked up to him as a professional athlete.
"It kind of kicked me in the butt and told me to get involved, especially with kids," Laperriere said. "Kids see us bigger even if we're normal guys."
Laperriere began volunteering more of his time to cancer centers in Los Angeles. After he signed with the Colorado Avalanche in 2004 he became heavily involved in Ronald McDonald Houses throughout the Denver area.
Just last week he spent time texting patients he became friends with during his time in Denver.
"If it helps them get through the chemotherapy or the pain they've got to go through for a minute, five minutes, an hour, that makes me feel good," he said.
Laperriere signed a three-year contract with the Flyers last summer and already is involving himself in the Philadelphia community by working closely with the club's community relations staff.
"I'm a yes man," he said. "I'll do whatever I can. It might take me two hours of my day, but I will always make the time."
With his sons now 7 and 5, Laperriere said he regrets the fact they will never know their grandfather and says he is committed to getting cancer screenings as often as is necessary, since he has a 5 percent greater chance of being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
"I can't say I don't worry about it, because I do," he said. "I have two kids who need their dad. But I can't just stop living because maybe I'll have that in the future."
Laperriere said he will carry his father's spirit with him throughout his life, but never felt it more than last April 11, when he played his 1,000th career NHL game on the anniversary of his father's death.
"They say everything happens for a reason and I'm still looking for the reason," Laperriere said. "But I think that night was a sign from him to say, 'I'm here.' "
Reach Chuck Gormley at cgormley@courierpostonline.com