Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach last week Mike Stothers Get on a plane and fly to Sweden.
Stockholm, home of an NHL Global Series doubleheader between Pittsburgh and the Nashville Predators, is a far cry from where Stothers was two and a half years ago. November is Hockey Fights Cancer Month, and Storrs, like everyone else, has a very real and direct connection to hockey. The Penguins will host Hockey Fights Cancer Night tonight, and Storrs will be back behind the bench where he belongs.
In March 2023, Stothers publicly diagnosed himself with stage 3 lymph node melanoma. Stothers made a name for himself in the AHL as a hard-nosed defenseman before going on to coach five times in the league.
Stothers, then an assistant coach with the Anaheim Ducks and previously the head coach of the Los Angeles Kings’ AHL affiliate in Manchester and Ontario from 2014 to 2020, went with his gut. Something feels wrong. But while receiving tough news, he still made sure to think about how he could help others.
“If I could share one simple message with everyone: listen to your body,” Stowes said in announcing his diagnosis. “If you notice something unusual, or if you feel uncomfortable, talk to your doctor right away. Don’t wait. It may be the best decision you make.”
This intuition likely saved his life. Maybe it can save someone else’s life too. Storrs’ news came early, giving him and his medical team time to fight back.
“I feel great, actually,” Stothers said earlier this year, “and I’m telling the truth. Like, I’m not just saying it for the sake of saying it. I’m very lucky that I’ve had great care from the doctors and the nurses and everybody in Anaheim. Obviously, you’re going to go through some ups and downs and emotional situations, but I couldn’t ask for better health care.”
Popular and outgoing, Stowes was always looking for the bright spot wherever he went. The definition of a tough, stay-at-home defenseman on Hershey’s tough teams of the 1980s, his open, friendly and direct attitude earned him considerable respect from his players in the years after he entered coaching. This mindset also served him well when cancer struck.
Stothers and his medical team are committed to defeating cancer, and he transitions into an advisory role with the Anaheim organization in 2023-24. In 2024, Stothers returned home to Owen Sound, Ontario. One of the highlights was having more family time than usual.
“I’m just kind of laying low,” Stothers said last year. “I told my family I would be more involved in their lives, so I just live my life through my grandchildren and their activities and sporting events. I enjoy it. [The stress of] Wins and losses, power struggles, special teams, everything, it all adds up. “
News came in January that Stothers had been inducted into the Hershey Bears Hall of Fame. He spent eight seasons at Hershey before beginning his coaching career. When the Flyers moved to Philadelphia, he remained an assistant with the Phantoms and won the Calder Trophy in 1998. He made his AHL head coaching debut with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2007 and led the Manchester Monarchs to a championship in 2015.
It’s been a long hockey career for Stothers and his family, starting when he was drafted by the Flyers in the first round of the 1980 NHL draft. Cancer meant he had to slow down for the first time in his life. at home with wife Judytheir descendants make sense.
But Stothers was also destined for a career in hockey. This season he returned to the bench and joined Todd Nelson, Nick Bonino and Rich Clune Serves as assistant to new Penguins head coach Dan Museof staff.
“I’ve worked for a lot of different organizations and I’ve enjoyed my time with each one,” Stothers told pittsburghpenguins.com. “But there’s something about the Penguins and how they operate that appeals to me, and I do feel like there’s some unfinished business. I kind of want to ride out and watch the sunset.”
About two decades in the American Hockey League, TheAHL.com feature writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. In 2016, he received the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding coverage of the league.
