Lifestyle & Parenting

Canucks Coach Finds His Hero

March 2, 2022

Here’s the good news we all need. In November 2021, the Vancouver Canucks headed to Seattle to play a game against the Kraken. In the first row behind the Canucks’ bench, Nadia Popovici was excited to watch the home opener live. But the pre-med student ended up seeing a whole lot more than a hockey game.

As she observed Canucks assistant equipment manager Brian “Red” Hamilton work from his usual spot behind the bench, directly in front of her seat, she spotted a suspicious-looking mole on the back of his neck, recognizing it nearly instantly as a sign of melanoma, or skin cancer. She quickly typed a message on the Notes app on her phone, enlarged the font, highlighted key words like “cancer,” “doctor,” and “mole” and began knocking on the glass. Red got the message, and now credits Nadia with saving his life (turns out, the mole was a type-2 malignant melanoma, and was safely removed).

The story has since gone viral (it was even mentioned on Late Night with Seth Meyers) and, most recently, the Canucks showed their appreciation for Nadia by flying her up to Vancouver for a game and a private shopping spree (with a focus on pieces from the gorgeous GANT collection), makeup session and photo shoot at The Room at The Bay. Needless to say, we love a happy ending. —Noa Nichol

nhl.com

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