{"id":132612,"date":"2022-02-17T10:00:06","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T16:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=132612"},"modified":"2022-02-16T20:01:43","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T02:01:43","slug":"this-week-in-nchc-hockey-stejskal-makes-inspirational-return-to-minnesota-duluth-crease-after-cancer-diagnosis-leads-bulldogs-to-win-over-denver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2022\/02\/17\/this-week-in-nchc-hockey-stejskal-makes-inspirational-return-to-minnesota-duluth-crease-after-cancer-diagnosis-leads-bulldogs-to-win-over-denver\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in NCHC Hockey: Stejskal makes inspirational return to Minnesota Duluth crease after cancer diagnosis, leads Bulldogs to win over Denver"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Playing in his first game since being diagnosed with testicular cancer earlier in the season, Zach Stejskal made 20 saves in relief on Saturday evening to help Minnesota Duluth to a 3-2 victory over Denver (photo: Shannon Valerio\/DU Athletics).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Seventh-ranked Minnesota Duluth\u2019s 3-2 win Saturday at Denver marked the first time that the No. 3 Pioneers had lost at home this season, but that wasn\u2019t what the Bulldogs were thinking about when the final horn sounded.<\/p>\n

Sophomore goaltender Zach Stejskal had made 20 saves in relief during his first game since Oct. 15. When it was announced in November that he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer, Stejskal made a point<\/a> of saying that he planned to play again this season. Picking up the victory in two periods of work Saturday, and helping UMD earn a big road split in the process, showed that he meant every word.<\/p>\n

Stejskal had rejoined the team for on-ice activities last month, but it wasn\u2019t until pregame Saturday at Magness Arena that he learned he might finally get back between the pipes that night.<\/p>\n

Fellow Bulldogs goalie Ryan Fanti was scheduled to start but was suffering from a stomach bug that several other UMD players had also been experiencing. Fanti told Stejskal before the game that he wasn\u2019t feeling well, and it was Stejskal that led the team out as the first intermission ended.<\/p>\n

Denver led 2-1 when Shai Buium scored at 4:27 of the third period, but Kobe Roth leveled the game with a power-play goal three minutes later, and Darian Gotz netted the eventual game-winner with 4:44 left. Stejskal\u2019s second win from four appearances this season saw him earn honorary NCHC goaltender of the week honors.<\/p>\n

UMD coach Scott Sandelin felt the award was richly deserved.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t plan for (that kind of medical situation), and he was off to a good start,\u201d Sandelin said of Stejskal\u2019s first two games this season. \u201cWe were rotating those guys, and all of a sudden, he\u2019s going through what he\u2019s going through, and the game becomes very secondary.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis health and wellbeing are the No. 1 thing, and the beauty of being on a team is you have a lot of support. You\u2019ve got your family, you\u2019ve got your friends and you\u2019ve got your teammates, and I think our guys really did a great job of supporting him.\u201d<\/p>\n

UMD players raised over $11,000 late last year as part of a Movember fundraiser, and the team kept Stejskal engaged from the moment they learned of his diagnosis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was obviously emotional telling them, and I kind of broke down, but everybody on my team gave me a hug and kind of supported me through that moment right there,\u201d Stejskal said. \u201cI knew right from the start that they had my back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got diagnosed on a Tuesday, and it was the Wednesday practice and I kind of brought everyone off the ice and kept the team in the locker room and broke the news. That\u2019s just kind of how it happened, very organically, and some tears were shed there for sure, but honestly, I was feeling better after I told everybody, just because of the support I got in the locker room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seven more games dot UMD\u2019s remaining regular-season schedule, and Stejskal could have a big say on how the Bulldogs fare down the stretch. One thing is for sure, though: He\u2019s glad to be in a position where he can support his teammates on the ice like they have for him off it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing how Zach has handled it,\u201d Sandelin said. \u201cHe\u2019s been awesome, and even after the diagnosis, and how he wanted to handle it, we gave him time until he was comfortable to share it with (media members), and you\u2019ve got to respect that for those players.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the time was right, he did, and he has handled it great. We\u2019re all excited to get him back and in the net, and I know he\u2019s probably the most happy to be back in there because that\u2019s where he\u2019s comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seventh-ranked Minnesota Duluth\u2019s 3-2 win Saturday at Denver marked the first time that the No. 3 Pioneers had lost at home this season, but that wasn\u2019t what the Bulldogs were thinking about when the final horn sounded. Sophomore goaltender Zach Stejskal had made 20 saves in relief during his first game since Oct. 15. When […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":132614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[810],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThis Week in NCHC Hockey: Stejskal makes inspirational return to Minnesota Duluth crease after cancer diagnosis, leads Bulldogs to win over Denver - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Seventh-ranked Minnesota Duluth\u2019s 3-2 win Saturday at Denver marked the first time that the No. 3 Pioneers had lost at home this season, but that wasn\u2019t\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132612\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This Week in NCHC Hockey: Stejskal makes inspirational return to Minnesota Duluth crease after cancer diagnosis, leads Bulldogs to win over Denver - 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