Devils’ forward Boyle diagnosed with cancer Teams hit the field following their hurricane-related hiatus
Brian Boyle hopes to play hockey again soon after being diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, a type of bone-marrow cancer that the New Jersey Devils’ team doctor said can largely be treated with medication.
The 32-year-old forward was diagnosed with CML after bloodwork at the start of training camp showed irregularities from last season. Boyle said based on what team doctor Michael Farber and others have told him, he expects to live his life under normal conditions.
That includes getting on the ice with his new team after signing a $5.5 million, two-year contract in the offseason. Boyle said on a conference call Tuesday that he feels as close to normal as possible, and Farber expects treatment to begin as soon.
“We have a good plan of attack here, and I’m looking forward to getting on the ice and playing,” Boyle said. “When that happens I don’t know, but my mindset is Oct. 7.”
The Devils open the regular season at home Oct. 7 against the Colorado Avalanche. That might be an aggressive target date, but Boyle said he expects only minor side effects even while he is being treated.
The Devils are optimistic Boyle will handle the medications well, no matter the course of action.
“He will be monitored very closely,” Farber said. “He came to us in great shape with relatively few symptoms, so I think he’ll respond quite well to therapy.”
CML is the same disease that former NHL forward Jason Blake played through after being diagnosed in 2007.
After a near-two week layoff due to Hurricane Irma, high school football has officially resumed in South Florida.
On Monday, teams in Broward and Palm Beach hit the practice field for the first time since Sept. 6 as schools officially reopened in both counties. Widespread power outages from the hurricane forced the closure of schools in both counties and wiped out Weeks 3 and 4 of the high school football season.
The schedule is back on track, though, as this Friday features a full slate of games across Broward and Palm Beach.
While weather-related game cancellations are common in South Florida, the two-week absence was the longest since 2005, when Hurricane Wilma shut down the schools for two full weeks.
In the case of Wilma, since it was later in the year, the season was shortened and priority was given to rescheduling games with playoff implications. Some games after Wilma were moved to different sites or played during the day, to avoid damaged fields.
For Hurricane Irma, Broward County originally tried to play football games the Wednesday before the storm hit, which could’ve minimized rescheduling headaches, ChaminadeMadonna coach Dameon Jones understood the decision to shut things down sooner rather than later.
“We could’ve played weather-wise [that Wednesday], but the concern was that it was coming straight for us and we needed to worry about evacuating, making sure people had supplies [rather] than football,” Jones said. “It made sense because we didn’t know it would end up like this. It could’ve been worse, and we’re worried about football instead of protecting lives.”
Normally, teams would be hitting “midseason form” at this point, but with the unexpected twoweek bye, coaches are tasked with re-acclimating their players to game speed. Park Vista coach Brian Dodds says his team was “sluggish” in Monday’s practice and worries how the time off will affect their game-shape as they prepare for Atlantic on Friday night.
“I was really happy with our conditioning [before], because we played three games [including the kickoff classic) and didn’t have one player go down with cramps,” Dodds said. “I think we’ve lost quite a bit in the last few weeks. Hopefully it won’t affect us too much this Friday night.”
Although public schools weren’t allowed to practice until school re-opened on Monday, some private schools hit the field on Sunday, thanks to the Florida High School Athletic Association waiving its rule which prohibited practice on that day.
Cardinal Gibbons coach Matt DuBuc said his team “didn’t miss a beat” when his Chiefs returned to practice on Sunday, outside of reintroducing some fundamentals he wouldn’t normally have to hone in on by Week 5.
While teams couldn’t practice before Sunday, some of his captains set up players-only workouts to keep teammates ready in the meantime. DuBuc appreciated that initiative.
“They just seemed hungry to get back,” DuBuc said. “We don’t really have to shake the tree to get them going.”
Although Weeks 3 and 4 of the season were postponed, both counties do plan to try to make up those contests. Palm Beach schools will play Week 4 games, mostly district contests, on Monday, Oct.2. Rescheduling Week 3 games will be up to the individual schools. In Broward, no decision has been made yet, but they’re hoping to make up both weeks.
The rescheduled games in Palm create a major scheduling gauntlet, as teams will be tasked with playing four games in a 14-day window.
“We’re all in the same boat and we all have to fight through it the same way,” Dodds said. “It’s not the best scenario – we want a full week to prepare – but it’s the only option and we all have to deal with it.”
Cardinal Gibbons must reschedule its postponed district game against Miami Jackson and also hopes to find a date to match up against Dillard, citing concerns that a player’s play in any one game could be what clinches him a scholarship.
“If we don’t play the game, guys don’t get the film,” DuBuc said. “Guys are very close to getting a scholarship, and they need these games.”
wdusenbury@ sun-sentinel.com; On Twitter @dusereport