Last year in the NHL we saw how it can impact even the best athletes when Oksar Lindblom of the Philadelphia Flyers was diagnosed.
Every year hockey celebrates Hockey Fights Cancer and celebrates the battles won and the lives lost.
Today we don't have to celebrate the life of someone lost, because thanks to the quick thinking of a Seattle Kraken fan, the Canucks Assistant Equipment Manager Brian Hamilton was able to get his cancer diagnosed early.
During the Seattle Kraken's home opener in October one of their fans spotted a mole on the back of Canucks' equipment managers neck.
Rather than ignoring this they used their cellphone and a little persistence to grab hold of Brian's attention and alerted him.
Because of an early detection Brian was able to have surgery to remove the cancerous growth and avoid any complications.
This story is just an example of how powerful someone can be just by offering the slightest of assistance.
Brian Hamilton shared the following statement through the Canucks social media in hopes of finding the person who alerted him to thank them:
"My name is Brian "Red" Hamilton and I am the assistant equipment manager for the Vancouver Canucks. I am trying to find a very special person and I need the hockey community's help.
To this woman I am trying to find, you changed my life, and now I want to find you to say THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!
Problem is, I don't know who you are or where you are from. I do know that you were sitting behind the Canucks bench on the night the Seattle Kraken played their first ever home game.
That evening, Oct 23rd, and the message you showed me on your cell phone will forever be etched in my brain and has made a true life-changing difference for me and my family.
Your instincts were right and that mole on the back of my neck was a malignant melanoma and thanks to your persistence and the quick work of our doctors, it is now gone.
I want you all to know this isn't about me. It's about an incredible person taking the time to notice something concerning and then finding a way to point it out during the chaos of a hockey game.
Going to great lengths to get my attention from the stands while I did my job on the Canucks bench.
We are looking for this incredible person and we need you to share this with your friends and families to help us find a real life hero, so I can express my sincerest gratitude."
This story was widely shared and in a subsequent tweet the Canucks shared that Brian and was able to locate the woman.