Road hockey for cancer research aims to break its own world record

Former NHL coach and player Ted Nolan has been in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Memorial Cup and the Olympics. But, he says, the most important games of his hockey career might be ones he plays at a street hockey tournament this month.

Nolan, from Ontario's Garden River First Nation, will be one of several celebrity guests playing in the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation's annual Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer tournament on Sep. 28.

The one-day tournament, which features roughly 150 teams, takes place at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, and the charity's goal this year is to break its own tournament record of $3.1 million raised for cancer research.

Nolan says this tournament means more to him than his professional achievements, including a Jack Adams Award for the NHL's best coach.

"That's just sport," he said.

"When you're talking about life and death this ranks way, way above."

Nolan says the cause is personal.

In March 2022, he says, he slipped and fell and thought he'd broken his ribs. Doctors didn't find any bone injuries, and further tests revealed he had multiple myeloma, he says. It's a treatable blood cancer but it has no cure.

After months of chemo, Nolan says his cancer is now in remission, but the diagnosis and treatment have been an "eye-opener." He was contacted about this month's charity tournament, agreeing to play before he was even asked.

"I was really blessed with some really good medical help to guide me this far and get me to where I am today," he said.

"But they're always looking for new dollars for new research, and the more we do, the better off it's going to get. If I could help out in any way whatsoever, I'm there."

Tournament set Guinness World Record

The tournament has raised about $33 million over the past 13 years, says its co-founder Steve Merker, an executive with the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.

It set a Guinness World Record in 2015 for "most money raised by a street hockey championships" bringing in roughly $2 million which Merker said has since been bested multiple times, including last year when the foundation raised $3.1 million. He wants to break that record again this year.

"But really, it's not about the money raised," he said. "It's what the money will do to empower the scientists here at the Princess Margaret to further our cancer research programs."

Merker says two in five Canadians will get cancer in their lifetime. Research is improving treatment all the time, he says, including for the type of cancer Nolan has. Multiple myeloma was a "death sentence" only 20 to 30 years ago, Merker says.

Teams in the charity tournament can choose what type of cancer research they'd like to help fund, Merker says, and must raise a minimum of $10,000. He says they're still looking for a few teams to sign up and for volunteer referees.

The turnout in 2015 set another Guinness World Record this one for the largest one-day street hockey championship, with 1,333 participants. Merker expects between 150 and 160 teams of eight to 11 players each to compete this year, meaning they could potentially have closer to 1,500 participants this time around.

The teams that raise the most money will be able to draft celebrity guests like Nolan.

Though Merker didn't reveal the rest of this year's guest list, last year's high profile guests included hockey greats like Wendel Clark, Darryl Sittler and Ray Bourque, as well as current stars like Sarah Nurse.