Huskies’ Brooklyn Stevely returns for championship after bout with cancer

The Regina player was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last November, meaning she was unable to play with the team this season — until Thursday night.

“I had my first surgery in October, and then it ended up being cancer so I had a second surgery,” Stevely said.

“I was on the ice for two days, and got called back into the office and told, ‘You aren’t going to be on the ice this year.’ ”

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There was a possibility that Stevely would’ve had to begin chemotherapy, but the second surgery meant she was able to avoid that.

After that second surgery, she said she was working hard to get healthy in order to play in the U Sports championship tournament.

“It was another six-week recovery and back on the ice,” she said. “(I worked) on a couple of individual skills, then a week of no contact, and then a week of contact. I didn’t think I’d be on the ice at all this year, so coming back for nationals was a huge honour.”

Because she played Thursday night, Stevely had to burn a year of eligibility.

“There was no doubt in my mind. If I got the green light to go, I was going to go, no matter what,” she said.

“My first year was a COVID year, so I got that extra year of eligibility, but I think it’s always just been if you can go, you go.”

Stevely credited her teammates for helping her through the difficult time.

“They were texting me every day – ‘If you need a ride, chocolate bar, movie night, ice cream brought to the house’ – every single one of them. They were always checking in on me. It was very special. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of girls to go through that with,” she explained.

Because of how tight-knit her team is, Stevely said she had her surgeries in Saskatoon as opposed to back at home in Regina.

Stevely mentioned that her teammates asked her to get her a hospital room that would fit 27 people, as they all planned on visiting. But Stevely said her surgeries didn’t require overnight hospital stays.

Huskies head coach Steve Kook said he was impressed with how quickly she was able to bounce back.

“That’s a warrior. Two and a half months ago she’s in an entirely different situation,” he said. “If that’s not motivation, I don’t know what is,”

Since she was diagnosed with cancer, Stevely said she’s looking at life a lot differently.

“I think I’ve matured a lot,” she said.

The diagnosis put things into perspective, she explained, and made even her tough school assignments seem easy in comparison.

“It’s made me take a step back and think about how special everything is and how lucky we are,” Stevely said.