Hockey players show support for Macklen family of Struthers
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
STRUTHERS
For years, they’d fought their opponents together.
Dean Macklen
William D Lewis|The Vindicator Making plans for the benefit hockey game for Dean Macklen are, from left, Adam Chudnofsky, Kristopher Johnson and Christopher Wilkinson.
But in September, a diagnosis of three cancers forced Dean Macklen, now 23 and a 2009 graduate of Struthers High School, to sit out hockey, the game he’d played since childhood, and to fight this new opponent — seemingly without the assistance of his teammates.
Kristopher Johnson, 24, one of those former teammates, wanted to make sure that Macklen — his friend since the age of 10 — knew he wasn’t alone. Though he couldn’t personally endure Macklen’s treatment, he could back him throughout the battle.
About a month ago, Johnson began organizing what would become the “Hockey’s More Than Just a Game” event, scheduled for Saturday at the Ice Zone, 360 McClurg Road in Boardman.
A two-period hockey game with a lights-out shootout will be from 4:15 to 5 p.m., followed by public skating from 5 to 6:45 p.m. Admission is $5 per person, per event, and tickets will be sold at the door Saturday.
An auction — which will feature baskets containing prizes such as personal training sessions and private hockey lessons — also will take place at the event, with tickets available for $1 each or $5 for six.
“Hockey’s more than just a game. ... Relationships are built on and off the ice,” Johnson said. “I wanted to offer support for his kind of game, where his opponent is cancer.”
The event is “fun for a great cause,” said Christopher Wilkinson, one of its organizers.
And though all proceeds will go toward the Macklen family, raising money isn’t the point of the event. Johnson explained that when he was in high school, his mother, a teacher with the Hubbard school district, was diagnosed with cancer. The school put on a charity basketball game in her honor — something Johnson called “a blessing to our family.”
“I wanted to share [that feeling] with his family,” Johnson said. “Everyone is affected by cancer in one form or another.”
Adam Chudnofsky, assistant general manager of the Ice Zone, added that though he doesn’t know Dean Macklen, he felt compelled to do anything he could for him and his family after hearing his story. Plus, “hockey’s a real small world,” Chudnofsky said, noting that he doesn’t know any hockey player “who wouldn’t do something like this.”
It’s what makes hockey players hockey players.
Though Macklen’s cancers are aggressively progressing — the family called in hospice to manage his care just last week — Rebecca Macklen, Dean’s mother, is hopeful he’ll feel well enough Saturday to once again strap on his skates and take to the ice with his teammates.
Dean is battling mast cell leukemia, histiocytic sarcoma and teratoma with malignant transformation, but has been experiencing longer periods of feeling well, thanks to hospice’s pain management.
Rebecca added that she’s grateful for the “show of support from those with whom we have shared hockey life.”
“We are touched by how many people care, and we appreciate that these young men have organized this event,” she said. “I know it means a lot to Dean as well.”
For more information about the event, visit the “Hockey’s More Than Just a Game” Facebook page.