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077 - Goalies Fight Cancer
91 Plays8 days ago
Join the True North Goaltending October Saves Team: https://fundraisemyway.cancer.ca/teams/8526
October Saves Website: https://octobersaves.org
October Saves Socials:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/octobersaves
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/octobersaves
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@octobersaves
Kalen Anderson Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kalenandersonn/
This week we do things a bit differently, tackling 2 interviews in one episode. First, we sit down with October Saves founder Lara Hopewell and talk about her journey battling cancer and how the October Saves initiative came to be. We go through what October Saves is, how people can register, and some of the cool things that have come from the 13 years of its existence.
We then interview Kalen Anderson, a goalie who has personally work with Connor before and talk about her experience battling cancer. Kalen shares her inspiring journey on how she has battled her way back onto the ice since her diagnosis and treatment.
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Format
00:00:06
Speaker
Welcome to the DIY Goalie Podcast, where hosts and goalie coaches Nathan Park and Connor Munday share their insights on how to become ah better goalie.
00:00:18
Speaker
Goalies, how are we doing today? Welcome back to another episode of the DIY Goalie podcast presented by True North Goaltending. And we have an interesting one today because we're going to kind of split this up into two different interviews, which is a little different than we normally do. But we're going to be talking kind of about goalies fighting cancer.
Interview with Lara Hopewell - October Saves
00:00:39
Speaker
So ah to start off myself, I will be interviewing Lara Hopewell from October Saves.
00:00:47
Speaker
and we'll kind of get into that. um And then Connor is actually going to be interviewing one of his kind of former goalie clients who, you know, battled a little bit of cancer on her own and kind of go on, go through her story and all of that stuff. So we've got a bit of a different format today, but I think it's going to be a good one for you guys. So Lara, thank you so much for joining us today and um providing us kind of with, with an insight on October saves and what it's all about.
00:01:19
Speaker
um How are we doing today? I'm great and I'm happy to be here. So thanks for having us on and letting me tell people all about our event and hopefully getting some goalies motivated to participate.
00:01:30
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. um So why don't we kind of dive right in? Why don't we start just telling us about your story, your background, kind of why you got October Safe started and, you know,
00:01:45
Speaker
I guess what your role is now and kind of the little bit of the growth throughout the years. Cause what it's been about 15 years now, I think. Yeah. 15 now thirteen years 13. Yeah.
00:01:57
Speaker
So yeah. Tell us about kind of your story and why you started October saves and, and kind of how it's gone throughout the years.
Lara Hopewell's Personal Cancer Journey
00:02:05
Speaker
Sure. So 15 years ago, my boys were just starting hockey and they were little. They were four and seven and they were just falling in love with the sport of hockey.
00:02:15
Speaker
And At that same time, just completely out of the blue, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was completely fine. And then I found a lump. And next thing you know, our family's like, you know, dumped into this journey that we never saw coming.
00:02:31
Speaker
um And for our family, the hockey rink really became a the the place where my kids could get away from it and find a way to just not think about cancer and think about what's going on with mom and all the things going on at home. And, you know, as we all know, hockey communities are so wonderful and so, you know, so supportive of everybody on a team or in the rink. And it was the same for us. Our hockey community supported me through my cancer journey, you know, my husband and my two boys, and they were the happy place for us during that time. So,
00:03:01
Speaker
um Once I got better, about two years later, once I got better and you know done with surgeries and chemo and you know a bunch of kind of yucky stuff, um we decided, like, how can we give back and how can we participate in Breast Cancer Awareness Month? And, you know, I always say it was kind of like, OK, go with what you know. And by that point, both of my sons, both of them had decided they wanted to be goalies.
00:03:24
Speaker
So, you know, we're living in the rink and I've got goalies. So what are we going to do? um So we got together with a coach and with our club that my kids played for, and we decided we were going to start raising money for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. and it was just a super simple concept at first. We were going to do People could donate or make pledges per save during the month of October. So goalies could sign up and they could ask their friends and families to, you know, pledge a certain amount per save for the entire month.
00:03:53
Speaker
And, you know, we thought we'd raise like a few thousand dollars and we're going to donate to Stand Up to Cancer, which we did. and um But every single goalie in the club signed up.
00:04:03
Speaker
Every single one. So 28 goalies signed up. Their families were involved. The
October Saves: Growing a Movement
00:04:08
Speaker
players were involved. Like our president of the club, the director of hockey, like everybody was all in And we raised $32,000. And we were like, what? Like, this is amazing.
00:04:18
Speaker
um And we figured like, we have to keep going. Like, we think we've like sort of struck a nerve here. So the next year we decided to challenge another team. We're in Virginia, so we challenged a team in Maryland and they were all in. And so we raised even more money.
00:04:34
Speaker
And then we went to the league that we participated in the next year and they decided to roll it out to the entire league. And it just, you know, grassroots just grew and grew and grew.
00:04:45
Speaker
and so now, you know, 13 years later, we are all across North America, Canada and the U.S. and we've raised $4.2 million. dollars And, you know, goalies every October just jump in and start fighting cancer and making and saves. And it's one of the most inspiring things you can imagine. It's super cool.
00:05:04
Speaker
Yeah, I gotta ask because I know the consistency of shot counting varies greatly, depending on where you are. So is it something that you take like official box scores? Or does somebody kind in the stands like a parent just kind of keep track? Or how does that work?
00:05:23
Speaker
Kind of all of the above, because honestly, it's about fighting cancer, right? So, and nobody wins, like, cause it's a competition, right? So goal, you know, goalies are competing to raise the most money, but nobody wins off of the most saves. They, they, they win off of the most money raised. And if you're, you know, if you're inflating your numbers, because the goalies put in their own numbers, if you're inflating your numbers, you're kind of fleecing grandma, right? Like, you're You're policing your friends and family, and they're probably going to adjust their pledge if things kind of get out of hand. So um and people do have the option to do flat donations, too.
00:05:58
Speaker
So um we always say that kind of it's an honor system, but it really kind of comes out in the wash because, you know. People are going to adjust their pledge if something starts getting kind of crazy in the shot count region.
00:06:11
Speaker
But I will say, and we this is the truth. I swear it's anecdotal, but this is the truth. Goalies shine during the month of October when they're participating in October saves. And we always say goalies get more shutouts in October. And we've had many a coach tell us this because they know people are watching them. Like their entire team is watching them and counting their saves. And when the goalies really know people are watching and realizing like how hard they're working and what they're doing, they put on a show. So it's, you know, they always do. We know our goalies are hard workers, but October they're on stage.
00:06:43
Speaker
Yeah. Should almost move that to March then. So I take advantage of the playoff runs. i know these People have said that before, like, can we do a spring version of this? I'm like, well, it's called October saves. So, um, we'd have to, March saves.
00:06:57
Speaker
I mean, we could, right. Yeah. It'd be like March madness. March madness, March saves. Yeah. They're still playing. Right. Yeah, there you go. No, that's awesome.
Inclusivity and Participation in October Saves
00:07:06
Speaker
um So who can sign up to do the October saves and how can they go about doing that? So and I'm pretty sure it's goalies everywhere, but um I do know that some goalies might think, oh, I'm a beer leaguer. This kind of applies to minor hockey goalies. So just want to clarify if that is the case that any goalie can sign up or what the what the deal is there.
00:07:32
Speaker
Absolutely everyone. So our motto is all saves one goal. So we say mites to beer league. We've got NHLers, we've got junior players, we've got tons of youth players, we've got high school players.
00:07:46
Speaker
um ah Some of our favorite players that we, that you' players, goalies, some of our favorite goalies are beer leaguers that are just doing it for the love of it. We've got, i mean, we've even got inline you inline goalies. So All ages, all levels, all abilities. We even have a whole posse of like gamers, like and NHL, like gamers. And so they count their saves. So you know COVID kind of brought that in for us because you know not everybody could participate on ice. So if you're making saves in the driveway, you can participate. like That's great. So all saves, one goal, everybody can participate.
00:08:23
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome. And um just while we're talking about kind of the older goalies and the beer leaguers and stuff, um because we have had him on our podcast before, I just kind of wanted to kind of get your take on what Justin Goldman's kind of impact has been from the goalie guild. And I know he's kind of been a big player in in the growth of this. So i don't know if you can kind of touch on that a little bit and and tell us what he's done for you.
00:08:51
Speaker
Justin Goldman has been incredibly important to the growth of October Save. So we were actually introduced to him by a member of USA Hockey, um and they knew that these two yeah entities together could really do something important and special. And so when Justin was introduced, he was all in from the very beginning. He wanted to help. He wanted to introduce us to people.
00:09:12
Speaker
And really, his social media platform Once he started talking about us on his social media platform, it was like all walls fell down. There was no more, you know, barrier between the U.S. and Canada.
00:09:24
Speaker
Like we had to start getting ourselves able to take, you know, Canadian donations and get everything figured out because, you know, he's just such a, um you know, kind of a goalie whisperer, someone we all really use as an advisor. And we love all of his advice. And he's such a great human being um that he has been one of our biggest supporters and he has promoted us all over the place.
00:09:43
Speaker
And, you know, he's been critical. Yeah, I think there's a lot of synergy there too with the Lift the Mask initiative and and yeah, he's doing a lot of great things over there. and Speaking of like you know, resources and stuff.
00:10:00
Speaker
Do you guys have anything that kind of, you know, helps goalies to fundraise, like whether it's like, you know, scripts or anything along those lines to kind of help help them make the most out of their donations?
00:10:16
Speaker
Yeah, so we actually, so when a goalie comes to octobersaves.org, they can come to that our website and they can register. And when they register, they are registering on a platform called Pledge It.
00:10:28
Speaker
And Pledge It is fantastic. It has all kinds of resources. So the minute you register, which is super easy, quick, fast, You then put your profile together, put pictures up, whatever you want to do, tell your story.
00:10:40
Speaker
um But then there's resources on there. So there's emails you can send already written. There's text you can send. um There's tips. There's advice. But then if you're at our Octobersaves.org website as well, we've got all kinds of fun stuff there as well. So like we've got a big banner that you can put up in website. your rink, it's a big pink brick wall banner that you can put up in your rink so your entire rink can follow you as your fundraising. So um we've got stuff like that on there. We've got prize flyers and flyers that you can give out in the rink. You can give out to donors. So um we've got a lot of resources and we really want people to lean on those and make it easy.
00:11:17
Speaker
Also, if a goalie's participated kind of year after year, all they have to do is when they re-register, boom, all of their data from the previous years is there so they can go back to their donors they've had before. They can add new ones. You can add your email list, your parents' email list, whatever.
00:11:33
Speaker
um And it's really easy and simple. And we always tell our goalies, if you sign up and put up a profile and send one email, one email, you will be fundraising. You will start raising money, fighting cancer.
00:11:46
Speaker
We'll start giving you prizes for all the great you know money that you brought in. And it's just that simple. It's that simple. Nice. So do you find that like there's a different approach depending on the age level, like whether it is a beer leaguer or a pro goalie or just like a you eleven goalie? Like what are kind of some of the patterns I guess you see and kind of your favorite like intricacies that you kind of see the goalies do when they're participating in this?
00:12:15
Speaker
Well, okay. So that's thing that I think is special. There's so many special things about goalies, but as we all know, goalies tend to be unique and they tend to have very distinct personalities. They may be quiet. They may be boisterous. They're all kinds of different personalities they bring to the position, but they bring that uniqueness to their fundraising as well. So we've got lots of younger goalies who participate with their whole family.
00:12:39
Speaker
So they do snack bars at the rink. They do all kinds of fun stuff. They make crafts and sell them and, know, you know, all kinds of neat things to kind of bring in extra money so that they can try to raise more money. Then we've got goalies who are adults. i mean, we have one amazing goalie.
00:12:54
Speaker
um She was fighting cancer herself. So she raised money, you you know, online and sent out emails and things like that. But she brought us along on her journey as well. And she wore her October Saves journey into surgery and took pictures and shared like the entire journey journey she went through with us and with October saves and with her donors. And it was very, very powerful. So, um you know, we've got goalies who are participating just because they want to.
00:13:22
Speaker
We've got goalies who are participating because their mom or their grandma may have cancer. Maybe a classmate has cancer. um There are all kinds of different inspirations that bring them to us as well. And they bring that to their fundraising, whatever is inspiring them They go for it. So, um you know, the the other organizers and I, we kind of joke that every October we sort of spend the month crying because we see all of these amazing stories that these goalies are posting on socials or sharing with us and they're so impactful.
00:13:53
Speaker
um But it's it's really how they decide to to do this event and we give them the platform and the tools and just say, go for it, you know, go for it and go raise money. And they do.
00:14:05
Speaker
Yeah. So do you have like a couple of cool stories or anything about, I mean, I know you told the one of the the adult goalie there, but I don't know if anything else comes to mind of kind of some of the things the goalies have done along the way.
Personal Stories and Motivations
00:14:17
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, we've got an amazing goalie named Hunter. um He's participated year after year and his mom, his biological mom um is a breast cancer survivor um and his step-mom, she is currently fighting stage four cancer herself.
00:14:32
Speaker
And so and one of his dear friends on a hockey team passed away last year from cancer. So, you know, what would have made maybe made another child sort of closed down has made this young man just, he is such an amazing charitable kid and he is fighting for his mom and his stepmom and his friends. And you you know he understands what he's doing and he leverages his community and we're so inspired by him.
00:14:57
Speaker
um He's back again this year and already you know just going for it. um One of our favorite goalies who's been participating for six, seven years now, um we've watched him literally grow up in october saves but he is our number one fundraiser for the entire event ever in all of north america he's from new jersey his name is lucas epstein and he has raised 78 000 to date um and plans to get over the 100 000 mark this year um and he's got all kinds of cool things his dad um
00:15:29
Speaker
is a furniture builder, a really cool furniture builder. So they're going to raffle off some cool furniture pieces. He's done golf tournaments. I mean, all kinds of neat stuff. um You know, there's just so many stories. I mean, we've had a goalie who all of a sudden popped into the rankings like the second week of October. And we didn't recognize his name. You know, a lot of times we we start recognizing these kids and he popped in and was just in our top 10 and fundraising. We were like, what is happening? And he had just lost his mom like three weeks before.
00:15:56
Speaker
And for his family, this was for him to feel like he was doing something to fight cancer after what just happened. And we really try to make sure that our goalies understand where the money's going.
00:16:09
Speaker
So understand where their hard work is going. And so we share the research funds and you know we do interviews with doctors. And when we can, we actually take them to the hospitals. um And we took this young man to the hospital and showed them like, where are we funding? Where are the dollars you were raising? Where is it going? So they can feel like there's part of the fight, you know really feel like it.
00:16:29
Speaker
um That's very important to us. So all of these stories are just these, you know, I could just keep telling stories, but just these incredible goalies doing these incredible things, you know, year after year. One of our other top goalies, his name is Ike Cole, and he's amazing.
00:16:45
Speaker
His mom, Tracy, is a three-time cancer survivor, breast, colon, and lung This is the strongest woman I've ever met in my life. She's incredible. And they are such a fundraising team. Like she and Ike every single year absolutely kill it um because they're just inspiring. Like, and they're, you know, they just want to fight cancer. So all of these stories, but then we've got other goalies who are participating because they just want to fight cancer. They just want to do something, right? They You don't have to have a personal connection to want to fight cancer, you know?
00:17:17
Speaker
So sometimes they're doing it because they're their're clubs participating or they just want to. And we, you know, bring it. All of you sign up. We're here for it. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
00:17:28
Speaker
um When it comes to like goalies, obviously we're very competitive by nature. and i do know that you guys kind of have a bit of a prize pack or whatever. for for Is it top five or is it top ten?
00:17:46
Speaker
Well, okay, so we do all kinds of different prizes because yes, we do know that goalies are a very competitive bunch, right? So we figure let's leverage this. And then we also want to reward them because we know they're working hard, right? so So the top five fundraisers in the U.S. and the top five fundraisers in Canada, they win that these great prizes. So you a goalie mask, leg pads.
00:18:07
Speaker
Glove and blockers, skates, a stick. So like really expensive goalie gear. You win and you get to pick your you know you your piece of equipment, whatever you win. And then we facilitate the purchase of that and get that sent to you, um which is fantastic. I mean, for some of these kids, ah you know a brand new pair of leg pads, they get to pick. Mom and dad didn't have to pay for them. Like it's pretty amazing.
00:18:27
Speaker
um But we want to make sure that everybody is rewarded as they go along too. So we have milestone prizes. So if you raise $250, you get a helmet sticker. And we're now doing every year, we do a new helmet sticker. So you could line those up on your helmet.
00:18:40
Speaker
um If you raise $500, there's t-shirts, there's hats, there's, and then our big one. So if you raise $2,000, we have the October Saves jersey.
Fundraising Impact and Community Building
00:18:50
Speaker
And that is a big one. Like if they want to win that jersey, because, you know, then the next year you can wear it while you're fundraising, you can wear it during practice, during games, whatever.
00:18:58
Speaker
um um Every two years we change the design of the jersey so we can keep, you know, kids wanting to and everybody wanting to get that jersey. um The jersey we have right now. So if you raise two thousand dollars, you win this jersey. It's October saves.
00:19:10
Speaker
And then on the back, it says making saves for, and you can put who you're making saves for. Like you can put your donors on there. You can put people that in memory and honor all of those things.
00:19:20
Speaker
um So we wanna make sure that they're feeling rewarded, feeling excited. We wanna help them get motivated to like get over that next milestone. And it's really, really fun. So they love that.
00:19:31
Speaker
um At the end of the event, we ship all these big pink packages to everybody and they, you know, they know they're coming in the mail. um And then we also do just a kind of motivator because again, competitive. um We do top 10 Tuesday sponsored by the goalie guild, which is awesome. So every Tuesday we do the top 10, you know, on socials and we send it out. So the top 10 goalies in the U S and Canada,
00:19:52
Speaker
And they get a prize pack from um Justin from the Goalie Guild, which is super cool because he's got great stuff. um And then we do top team Friday. So we do to the top three teams for the entire event every Friday. So that's just like kind of bragging rights. Like it's motivational. People want to kind of like jump over each other. Like it's fun to watch.
00:20:13
Speaker
um And then, you know, at the end, November 10th, 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time is the final round. for you know donations to count towards you know the challenge itself.
00:20:24
Speaker
And that final hour can get crazy, crazy. Watching these goalies try to get these big prizes. um So it's fun. like We know the goalies are doing this for the right reason. They're doing this to fight cancer. They're doing it in honor and memory and for people they love and you know want to help out.
00:20:40
Speaker
But if we can motivate them and give them some fun stuff, like we're all in for that too. Yeah. And so do the funds go to like one specific, maybe like national cancer charity or is it kind of like localized? Like do the goalies kind of get to pick like where it goes? Because I know like when October Safe started, it was more directed to breast cancer and now it's kind of just, you know, cancer in general.
00:21:08
Speaker
yeah So how does that work in terms of like where the funds do go for these charities? So yeah, it evolved over time from from pediatric and breast, because September and October, to all cancers. Because we know after we've spent so much time working with these doctors and research funds that you know research on one cancer type could find you know breakthroughs in another cancer type. So we support kind of all you know cancer genres, I guess you'd say.
00:21:32
Speaker
um But we have some main beneficiaries that we support. um The Inovashar Cancer Institute, which is here in the mid-Atlantic in York, um in the United States. And then we do um CHOP Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, um which, you know, if if someone's child has cancer, they're probably at some point going to be going through that facility. Their breakthroughs there are incredible. The research they do is incredible. so We support them.
00:21:58
Speaker
um We support the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute because obviously they're in the Jimmy Fund. They're doing incredible things in you know the Boston um area up there. But obviously people again travel to Dana-Farber if they've you know gotten a diagnosis as well.
00:22:11
Speaker
um We support Life with Cancer, which is support services um free of charge to anyone with cancer anywhere um and so they do incredible things to support people going through the full family you know effort if you know someone's got cancer they've got support services and treatments for everybody so we love them um and then try to do we would like you know we want to get the local aspect as well because that's very motivational so if a state raises because we do we do track you know, the funding, and fundraising in states, not just goalies and teams, but states.
00:22:44
Speaker
um If a state raises over $50,000, we will do a $5,000 local donation um a to and then it's decided at that time what it's going to be each year.
00:22:54
Speaker
If they do $100,000, again, which is not hard to do, then we do a $10,000 donation to a local cancer charity. And so if you visit the beneficiaries page on our website, you'll see all the different organizations we support, you know, Johns Hopkins and just all kinds of incredible, you know, um Northwell. And there's just all these beneficiaries that we do support because of the state funds that we're able to give as well. And that changes every year, kind of depending on what states do what.
00:23:22
Speaker
um Some of our beneficiaries are actually the NHL Hockey Fights Cancer Foundations. um So the Washington Capitals, we actually do like a $20,000 donation last year. We were super excited to be able to do for them um which again goes to a cancer research and support services as well. so We have the the big organizations and then we've got the smaller ones. And then in Canada, we support the Canadian Cancer Society.
00:23:48
Speaker
um And actually that's a, di to it so all funds raised in Canada stay in Canada, never come into the US. So we we make sure everybody, you know everything goes the way it should be with tax laws and all that good stuff.
00:23:59
Speaker
um But you your money goes straight to the Canadian Cancer Society and then you do have the ability to pick through them if you're a Canadian um but you know donor. So it's pretty cool.
00:24:10
Speaker
Awesome. So since you've been doing this, what do you think your favorite part is about being involved with this this movement?
00:24:22
Speaker
Hands down, it's the stories of the goalies. They are so inspirational. They are so just amazing. Adults, kids, their families, like they they rally their full community, their hockey club, their rink. Like the stories are incredible. And I'll tell you this year, we're really working to share those stories to the best variability on our social media. So we're really working to tell like stories.
00:24:46
Speaker
So if anybody has stories, feel free to send them to us. um But we're sharing these goalie stories because they're so important. And that is hands down the most important thing and understanding why people are raising money and and joining our cause.
00:25:02
Speaker
um But also, you know, we love the goalie nation. Like this is the one time where goalies get to do something to together. And it is unique. Goalies are unique on their team.
00:25:14
Speaker
There are only you know one, two of them, maybe three at most on a team. So they are kind of an island. you know, in a game they're opposite some other goalie, who's that goalie, you know, they may or may not know them. So we love that this is like the one time where we really are rallying the full goalie nation. And and honestly, the goalies love it. Like they, we've had before, um we had one goalie on one side of the ice during a game, the goalie on the other side of the ice had seen this goalie through October saves, like on social media and realized that this other goalie had lost, he had lost a loved one to cancer.
00:25:48
Speaker
So they knew they were going to play this team. So this one, this other goalie, they had had a gift. And at the end of the game where they had won, this other team had won, they skated over to the other goalie and like were hugging this goalie and telling they were so sorry what happened. And the other goalie was stunned and like to tears, like everybody was in tears because they knew who each other were because of October saves. And they knew that this other goalie was suffering and they wanted to support them. And so it's just the sense of community and the goalie nation amazing.
00:26:17
Speaker
I mean, it's stunning. It's stunning. It's really, really inspiring. Yeah, for sure. So if people do want to get involved as like a goalie or a donor or a volunteer or something like that, um how could they go about doing that?
00:26:33
Speaker
So if you'd like to participate and we invite all people that are making saves to come to octobersaves.org and you just click the register button and again it's quick and easy and you can get registered. um If you'd like to be a donor also come to octobersaves.org and you can click the donate button and quickly find your goalie or you can make a general donation or um you know you can donate to a team because teams also participate so um So there's different ways that you can make a donation.
00:27:00
Speaker
um If you would like to rally your club, rally your rank, rally your organization, we would love that. So bring our event to your director of hockey, to your goalie coach, to whoever um and say, hey, we'd love to do this. Like, can we just can we ask our goalies if they'd like to participate? That would be amazing.
00:27:18
Speaker
um Goalie schools participate, rinks participate, teams participate, colleges participate. In any way, shape or form, you can. So either we'd love to have you sign up and make saves for October Saves. We'd love to have you donate to a goalie um or you know bring this to your rink, bring it to your club. We'd love to have you.
00:27:38
Speaker
Yeah. And I think that's something that we're going to hop in on this year and hopefully get kind of the and clients that come see us. We can maybe make a true North goaltending team and what we'll put it out there for you guys. So we'll put all of that in the show notes so you guys can take a look at at either joining our team if you wanted to or doing something on your own.
00:27:59
Speaker
and Before we fully wrap up here, what is kind of the future hold for October
Future Growth and Expansion Plans
00:28:05
Speaker
saves? Like what sort of things are you looking to do to kind of change things up a little bit as we go and keep growing?
00:28:12
Speaker
So we always every year we change things up a little bit. We change prizes, we change maybe sometimes we change different like like features, things like that every single year.
00:28:23
Speaker
um We know the sky's the limit with ice hockey goalies or with, you know, goaltenders. So we focus primarily on ice hockey goalies. We've got inline folks too.
00:28:34
Speaker
um We are always constantly asked for other sports, lacrosse, field hockey, soccer. so You know, that's there like that. We know someday we will get there. But right now there's so much room for growth in the ice hockey world. So that is still our focus.
00:28:48
Speaker
Netminders in the rink are still our focus and, you know, and in in line as well. um So, you know, someday we'll probably get to the other sports because they ask every single year, every single year.
00:29:00
Speaker
um And we love that, like that's amazing. um But yeah, we just wanna keep growing. like we have a team element that we do and it's really grown exponentially every single year in the past three years where now you can form a team however you'd like to. So again, it's a goalie school, it's two goalies on a team, it's it's whatever.
00:29:17
Speaker
um It's a ring full of goalies. So you can build these teams um and we're loving the growth of that right now because that's really, again, building the community. um And we've got a really fun prize. So our top team,
00:29:29
Speaker
wins the Mitch Korn Fireside Chat. And Mitch Korn is, you know, kind of the Google him if you know don't know his name, because he is the goalie whisperer of the NHL. He's absolutely amazing. He runs the best camps, but, um you know, he's with the the Predators right now. He just hit come from Long Island. He was with the Capitals before that. Like he's fantastic, super dedicated to our cause as well. And um he, we fly him to your rink.
00:29:54
Speaker
He does a big presentation. We have food. It's all really fun. The past two years, the Washington Capitals goalies have come to, which is super cool and answered questions with the kids. So we're really building this team aspect right now. So we we love the idea that it's way more fun and effective to fundraise together.
00:30:10
Speaker
so rally, rally your goalie friends. Let's go. Yeah, but we've just recently brought on a couple coaches to actually start tackling the ringette side of goalie development.
00:30:22
Speaker
So that's, I know the ringette goalies are very underserved. So that could be one to listen, we love the ringettes and the ringettes sign up right now because I'll you the Canadian Cancer Society because we brought them on like three years ago, I think. Canadian Cancer Society was like, hey, the ringettes, they're in. And we were like, yes, like, yeah, absolutely. We love it. Ringettes sign up right now. Like, that's fantastic. So yeah, I mean, everybody really can participate. Again, like we have, we've got gamers that participate and we love it. And they, they do redo their like avatars. I don't know. i'm not a gamer, but they're an all pink and they do all the kind of fun stuff and they compete with each other. So, you know, if you're making saves in October, join up, we would love to have you.
00:31:03
Speaker
Awesome. Well, as we wrap up here, Lara, where can people find you? And also, like, I know we talked about the website with October Saves, but why don't we kind of talk about some of the socials, too, as well and and all of that for if people want to learn more, if people want to keep up to date, all that good stuff.
00:31:21
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. So come visit us on any of the socials. So, you know, obviously we're on TikTok, we're on Instagram, we're on Facebook, um all all of the above, we're on everything. um So come see us there. We've got lots of stories and we love to promote the goalies. So with the goalies that participate when they post on their socials, you know, obviously they collaborate with us. And so we love to promote what they're doing. And every day it's like this goal is doing this, this goal is doing that. So it's a great place for ideas. It's a great place to get inspired. It's super fun to see what people are doing, a little competition.
00:31:50
Speaker
um So yeah, definitely check us out on social media. October saves is our handle everywhere. um And so we'd love to see you there and then come to OctoberSaves.org, which you can get all of the details.
00:32:01
Speaker
Lots of folks, again, this is super important just by the way, um if you'd like more information on how we function, how much, you know, our tax, like tax reports, everything is on there. We're very transparent in how much money we give, where we give. We've got like 100% on Charity Navigator. We run a really tight ship. so um If you'd like to learn more about who we are and where we give the money, you can come to our website too. um So yeah, we just, everything, everything's on our website and on our social media. And we try to have a lot of fun there. So come and check us out.
00:32:31
Speaker
Awesome. Yeah. Well, as we said, we'll put all of that in the show notes so you guys can take a look at that and highly encourage you guys to get involved. A big thank you for taking the time and being generous with your time with us today and also for kind of all you've done over the last little bit over a decade with all of this.
00:32:50
Speaker
I know I've kind of been an outsider following for a couple years since it's been a long time since I've made a save, but yeah. You know, I think, I think this year we'll try and hop on board and kind of create a team with some of our goalies too. And try and try and get that going. Cause it does sound like a lot of fun and it's been kind of sad being on the sidelines. Well, join us, jump in. We would love to have you. You'll love it. You'll love watching your goalies raise money and all, you know, and I want to say a quick shout out, all the volunteers in all the ranks across the U S and Canada who help us out.
00:33:24
Speaker
They are amazing. They're goalie moms, goalie dads. They're the team manager. They're the, director of hockey. We've got the best volunteers everywhere that are helping us out and a huge thank you.
00:33:34
Speaker
um And our goalie coaches like you guys, like thank you so much. We really appreciate it. And then of course all our volunteers with October Saves are wonderful. So we thank you, thank you. Yeah, as we all know, the goalie community can do some wonderful things. so Yes, I will tell you that from the bottom of my heart. They absolutely do every single year.
00:33:54
Speaker
Yeah, well, again, very much appreciated. And we will let you go to do all the things that you need to do gearing up for October. Thank For all you guys listening, we will kick you over to Connor's interview with Kaylin.
00:34:10
Speaker
And as Connor likes to say at the end of every episode, make some saves, goalies. goalies welcome back or welcome to my part of the podcast here at the diy goalie podcast presented by true north goaltending hopefully you guys enjoyed that segment with nathan and ah the rep from october saves it's gonna be a great program and we're super super happy to be part of it i am captaining my own interview today alongside with my daughter emerson who's
00:34:41
Speaker
Hanging out with me right now, wide awake, and so we're <unk>re we're happy to be here. I am joined today by a very, very special guest, somebody who I've gotten to know quite well over the last little bit. She reached out to me with some training, wanted to do some training.
00:34:57
Speaker
Unfortunately, things kind of fell through due to cancer diagnosis, and there but she's pulled back stronger. She's gotten to do a lot of amazing things that we're going to touch on today. Please welcome to the show, Kaylin Anderson.
Interview with Kaylin Anderson - Overcoming Cancer
00:35:10
Speaker
Kaylin, how we doing today?
00:35:11
Speaker
I'm good. Thank you so much for having me. How are you? ah well Like I said, you know, I have daughter in my arms here. So um it is possible that, you know, we may have to jump cut a couple of times, but we shall see so far. She's sla she's doing pretty well here. She's I think she's just enjoying the bright screens. set that are in front of her right now.
00:35:32
Speaker
um So yeah, so we're going to dive in a little bit about Kaylin's journey into goaltending, how she got into playing, and then just kind of really dive into the cancer diagnosis, because I think that's that that's the whole point of this episode, first off.
00:35:45
Speaker
And then it's it's it's such a it's such a very interesting and exciting story. So Kaylin, what is your origin story, and how did you get into goaltending? Yeah, so basically, I've been playing hockey ever since I was like super little, ever since I could walk,
00:36:00
Speaker
And it, I think it was second year U13 or first year you fifteen where like you have to choose one player to be goalie. You have to register someone as that position.
00:36:15
Speaker
And no one else wanted to be the goalie, but I did. i wanted it to be the goalie so bad. And ah the coaches were like asking people around and my dad was the head coach.
00:36:27
Speaker
Obviously, he didn't want me to be the person that would make the scene and ask him like to be the goalie in front of everyone. But I asked him and he said no. So I like started crying and I was like, please, like I want this so bad. Like you don't understand. And in front of all the coaches and the managers and all the players, my dad finally caved and said yes, because he was embarrassed.
00:36:49
Speaker
So ah it worked out in the good in the end so okay okay typical you know dad doesn't want their kid to be the goal yeah I might be going through that myself here next years here so um okay so yeah so just kind of touching your playing here career quickly and forgive me my knowledge about it is quite limited um so you grew up here in in the Edmonton area uh to my knowledge you played with Sherwood Park uh, for Saskatchewan Fury. And that's kind of where my knowledge goes from there.
00:37:24
Speaker
So this kind of helped me fill in the blanks here. You know, like, did you play with Edmonton minor, Edmonton girls, minor hockey, or was it strictly sure or park just kind of, how did all that come about?
00:37:35
Speaker
Yeah. So, um, I'm from Fort Saskatchewan, so we only have like a house league team here. So I basically played there until my second year, you 15 and, um,
00:37:46
Speaker
and Then I decided that I wanted to go try out for the Kings but in the insured park, the AA team. And i did get um offered a spot to play underage on the U18 team.
00:38:01
Speaker
So I played U18 year younger than like you're supposed to and stuff. And then that was kind of my last year before everything. yeah. yeah Yeah.
00:38:12
Speaker
Okay. Okay. So then fast forward to how old were you, i guess, just when you were diagnosed um and then just kind of what, like, were there any like signs and symptoms beforehand?
00:38:30
Speaker
You know, obviously like we don't, we don't want to dive into too much about it because is it is a very personal experience. um So just kind of at what age and just kind of how did everything come about a leading up to the diagnosis?
00:38:44
Speaker
Yeah, so I was 15. fifteen It was, i went into the hospital ah September, September 2023, because because I go to Vimy. So I was, I just joined the lacrosse program there.
00:39:01
Speaker
And we were doing like testing of the gym. And um while I was doing my testing, you have to do it in front of everyone. And I got a lot of comments from my friends about how my one leg was really like a lot bigger than the other.
00:39:18
Speaker
And I had always like noticed that for the past like year, but everyone I've talked to really said it was like, just because I had more muscle in that leg. So I kind of like brushed it off. But like when they started noticing it, like when my friends started noticing it, I knew it was bad.
00:39:35
Speaker
so i told my dad when he picked me up from school i was like hey do you think we could go to the doctors i just want to check out my leg like some of my friends are saying it's like bigger and he he was like yeah okay and then he picked me up and he's like no we're going straight to the hospital because it was that much bigger i think it was almost three times as big okay yeah so then go to the hospital also ahlthough I'm also a Vimy kid, by the way, so represent. ah um so leading up to okay So leading up to the hospital, you get in the hospital, you know you sit down with the doctor.
00:40:15
Speaker
And then so then what kind of transpired from there? Okay, so I went into the emergency room and I think I sat there for 13 hours.
00:40:27
Speaker
And when I finally saw a doctor, he was like, okay, we need to transfer you to St. Albert so you can get the ultrasound that you need because we don't have that here. So I went straight to St. Albert and then i got in there pretty quickly and then they sent me, after the ultrasound, they sent me to the Stollery and my dad said that's when he knew something was like really wrong.
00:40:51
Speaker
So they kind of like, they like transferred me to the Stollery and I was there for i think a week and a half and there were I was just doing MRI, PET scans, ultrasounds, all the tests you can imagine and yeah, it was crazy like I've, I went to like never doing that to only doing that. And it was right.
00:41:12
Speaker
Yeah. So
00:41:16
Speaker
what was the type of cancer that you were diagnosed with? So I got diagnosed in November. so okay. It took them a while to like actually figure out what it was because mine was so rare. It's synovial sarcoma.
00:41:32
Speaker
It's one in a million in sarcoma diagnoses alone. So, okay. Okay. yeah And so, and so just ah again, not going into too much detail. I'm trying not to, you know, ah dive into personal stuff.
00:41:44
Speaker
ah So just what, so what is synovial sarcoma, right? So just what, what is that? If you can kind of explain that to us. Yeah, it's kind of like um like a mass in the soft tissue. when like Mine was in my lymph nodes.
00:42:02
Speaker
Then that's what the kind of like sarcoma is. so I just had like an 11 centimeter mass in one of my lymph nodes. so it like like It's hard to explain. it it's okay yeah yeah don no don't don' totally Totally fair enough. I think we kind of get the the gist of it and for those that want to Google afterwards after they listen to the episode, have at her.
00:42:27
Speaker
um Okay. So,
00:42:30
Speaker
I guess just before we continue forward in the story, just kind of what was, what was going through your mind? What was going through your, your family's mind? actually would have, actually would have loved to have your dad on the podcast as well. Cause I know that he was your, he was your biggest and number one supporter yeah throughout all of this.
00:42:46
Speaker
um So just kind of what was, what was going through your mind? What was going through your family's mind? Just kind of what were the, what were the emotions and just the feelings that you guys were, ah were having during all this and leading up to and after the diagnosis?
00:42:58
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, so it was like, it was a really complicated situation because a week before I was diagnosed, we got called in and they told us there was no cancer. So we were very like happy. We were on cloud nine for about like a week and then they called us back and then they.
00:43:15
Speaker
They kind of were like, oh yeah, you have cancer. Here's what's going to happen. And they started like explaining everything. And obviously like i was in denial. Like I didn't even like process what was going on until I started to lose my hair.
00:43:28
Speaker
That's when it really like started. Um, and that happened three weeks after my first round of chemo. So it wasn't like an immediate process for me. Like it was like, it was kind of like, it wasn't real. Like I didn't feel real, but my parents like devastated, like obviously they probably, had probably like snapped to them easier than it did for me. Okay.
00:43:55
Speaker
and Um,
00:44:00
Speaker
Obviously, you know, very scary situation all around. Doesn't matter what type of cancer that it is. um Obviously, something that nobody should ever have to go through in their life.
00:44:14
Speaker
So um very, very proud and written commend you for, you know, what it is that that that you're going through and, um you know, and how how you guys handled it all.
00:44:27
Speaker
It was very, very interesting story to, to, to watch and to to listen to. um, so
00:44:35
Speaker
obviously at some point you had to stop playing sports in order to be dealing with, with this, you know, stop with lacrosse, stop with i playing hockey. um and So just kind of walk us through and as much details as you'd like, just kind of the whole, the whole process, the, the, the treatment, the chemo, the, the radiation, sort radiation, and just, just kind of everything that comes with the,
00:45:03
Speaker
the the cancer diagnosis and just kind of what was going through through your mind and just how much of a drive was it for you in order to get back into sport?
00:45:16
Speaker
Yeah, I think the thing that took the biggest toll on me really was not being able to play hockey. And I wasn't able to play ever since I got admitted to the hospital the first time when they were doing the test because they found a blood clot in my leg.
00:45:31
Speaker
So I had to be on blood thinners for basically like my whole treatment. So I was, when they were doing the tests, there was nothing like actually wrong with me until they diagnosed me, but I couldn't play because I was on the blood thinners.
00:45:49
Speaker
So that was kind of like sucky because like I felt completely fine and I was in great shape, but I couldn't play. But then after i started chemo and stuff, like, I got... My brain is all, like, fluffy because of it. Because i have, like, brain fog or whatever from the chemo. Sure.
00:46:11
Speaker
sure And, yeah, so... Like, I have friends that came to visit me, but I don't remember because, like, of the chemo and stuff. i it was really hard, too, because I really wanted to play on the Kings again, because I was in the middle of tryouts when I got, like, sent to the hospital.
00:46:31
Speaker
So I had to watch all my friends play for the team that I wanted to play for so badly. And like the coach did everything he could to like include me and stuff. But it just started to kind of suck when I couldn't like keep up physically anymore.
00:46:46
Speaker
And i think it was after my second or third round, I got sent to Florida on Boxing Day for two months for my radiation because we don't have the proton radiation here.
00:47:00
Speaker
But Ben Stetler, the Ben Stetler Fund is trying to bring it here. So that's great. um But yeah, they sent me over there for two months. But I was doing chemo at the same time as I was doing my radiation, which isn't like a common thing.
00:47:15
Speaker
Usually it's one of the like one... either you're doing just radiation, but it was like doing both at the same time was really hard because it's like radiation is basically like just it's like burning basically. So after I was done, i had like a really, really bad burn. Like I couldn't like it hurt to even like wear pants or like shorts because like of where my cancer was because it was in my right groin.
00:47:47
Speaker
So like there was really, it was really like raw and stuff. And because of the chemo, I couldn't heal from it properly.
00:47:59
Speaker
So it took like a while, like it took me until um March, I think, to for it to finally like heal.
00:48:10
Speaker
So yeah, I flew back. Oh, when was it?
00:48:18
Speaker
February, like, late, late February, and, um, I still had to do three or four rounds of chemo, but my last round, uh, I got to do it, like, outpatient, so I used, I could go in and then get it and then go home again, so I could finally, like, relax, because usually during my chemo, I,
00:48:45
Speaker
like struggled a lot with the recovery. Usually it takes like people like two, three, four days to recover from after the chemo, but it took me like one to two weeks.
00:48:56
Speaker
Like it was, my body took it really rough and I started getting like dizzy spells and like wherever I would stand up, I would like pass out because I couldn't see or hear anything.
00:49:07
Speaker
So like I had to be in a wheelchair a lot too. Like it was bad. Okay. So then again, just very daunting and probably very tiresome process as about throughout that entire thing.
00:49:25
Speaker
um Okay, so then... i fast forward further at some point I get in the picture and you know we you and I start chatting back and forth a little bit about getting you training and um getting you back with the Kings for the upcoming year and I believe that was a year ago somewhere along those lines and then something happened from there Yeah, so I actually contacted you in Florida um because when I was in Florida, i was very i was very motivated because i was very homesick and I was very motivated to get back home and get back to my normal normal life because I was tired of the one I was living in the States.
00:50:12
Speaker
So I think I contacted you really more out of like excitement out of like not like realistically, because when I contacted you, the doctors were telling me that I would never be able to skate again.
00:50:25
Speaker
But I I didn't care what they said because I knew that regardless, I was going to find a way. So I contacted you and I was like, yeah, like I want to be back for the year after. And like, but I like my timeline was way too unrealistic.
00:50:41
Speaker
But now, now it will make sense. But I was just like, very, very, very excited to get back on the ice because that's all I could think about. Okay.
00:50:53
Speaker
ah Thank you, first off. Yeah. And then, so, yeah, and no, I definitely, i definitely shared that excitement with you. I think just from an outsider's perspective, you know, just wanting to, um you know, be able to help you get back on the ice and be able to help you get back at full strength and be able to help you get at the team that, you know, that you wanted to be on. And obviously the the cancer came back, if I recall the story correctly. No? Okay. No.
00:51:24
Speaker
um So, okay, I'm getting my stories mixed up then. So obviously then at some point, you know, you were told then you couldn't go back to playing goal. And that was bummer for you, bummer for me.
00:51:37
Speaker
um
00:51:40
Speaker
But you did end up managing to get back on the ice at some point as as ah as a player with the Fort Saskatchewan Fury.
00:51:50
Speaker
Yeah, I kind of, after... I had three major surgeries on my leg and with the radiation my leg is now like permanently swollen.
00:52:01
Speaker
So I have a thing called lymphedema. So um I don't have enough lymph nodes to like get rid of the fluid in my leg. So now there's just extra fluid which makes my leg like bigger than the other.
00:52:15
Speaker
So that was like the biggest, that's the biggest thing that really prevented me to play goal when I wanted to. Because um when I was done treatment, um I went to physio at the cross cancer and they were telling me, well, slow down. Like, we don't know how your leg is going to react. Like,
00:52:36
Speaker
all this stuff. And I was like, okay, well, I'm going to try. So I decided to try player because I feel like that's kind of easier on the legs than a goalie. So I was like, okay, if I can do this, then I'll ease my way into goalie and then I'll just full send.
00:52:54
Speaker
So that's what I basically did. um I just decided to go full player mode and i was playing add Vimy as a player and I was playing on just the house team here in Fort as well future Connor McDavid in the in the no I thought that's not the player I'd compare myself to. No, fair enough. um
00:53:25
Speaker
I guess kind of sidetracking for a second. So just what was what was that experience like to go from playing goal, jumping over to forward?
00:53:37
Speaker
um Was there any, I guess like, like I suppose like it for me, there would be a little bit of jealousy, you know, not being able to be back in the net, and you know, playing in front of your goaltender.
00:53:48
Speaker
um And then just kind of what just what was that experience like, just diverting from goalie to player um and then just kind of dealing with what you were dealing with in your leg at the same time?
00:54:01
Speaker
Yeah, it was honestly pretty fun. Like, I enjoyed it. kind of brought me back some, like, nostalgia from when I was younger because I still got to play with the girls I used to play when I was younger. um But, yeah, I just felt like, I feel like it's a closer position because you have to rely on other people more.
00:54:19
Speaker
So, I really lacked with, like, puck confidence, though, which is... like predictable if I haven't been playing but um yeah it was fun and i just yeah playing like playing in front of like goalies and like in front of like my goalies too I had so much jealousy like I remember like I would just like I would zone out and just watch the goalies because that's exactly where I wanted to be like yeah I was like I didn't like say it out loud but I was definitely very very very jealous
00:54:55
Speaker
Well, now you're saying in front of the whole world. So, so, so there you go. um Okay. So um moving on from there and then we just, we kind of lost contact a little bit, which is, which is fine.
00:55:11
Speaker
um At some point there, the Washington capitals are in the mix. You see, you've got a couple a couple of jerseys behind you there. You got TJ Oshie and the breast cancer, there's the cancer awareness jersey. And you also got the cancer,
00:55:25
Speaker
ah sweater that they that you're rocking here. Again, a better team to cheer for than the Capitals, but, you know, appreciate the respect, Braden Holpe and all that. So, yeah um...
00:55:36
Speaker
you were, you were featured quite prominently with the Washington Capitals as well as Vimy hockey and, and, athletic athletic academic athletic development with, uh, with Vimy there across the socials.
00:55:49
Speaker
Um, what was that at the first time? How did that come about? What was that experience like? And you did manage to get the strap on the pads and face some of the Washington Capitol shots. Yeah. So that was actually my make a wish.
00:56:02
Speaker
So, um, make a wish reached out to me and they were like, oh, you got a wish. But they were waiting until after i was done all my treatment to like go forward with it. And really, this was the only thing I wanted to do.
00:56:16
Speaker
So when I went for my like make a wish interview, they were like, okay, what's three things that you want to do? One that's outside of Canada, one inside of Canada, and one inside the province. So I kind of gave my lady like a little bit of a hard time. I was like, okay,
00:56:31
Speaker
for my first one, I want to go to Washington, I want to meet all the players, and I want to do everything I can, and for my in my country one, I want to go to Toronto, and I want to meet the capitals there, but, and skate with them there, and stuff like that, and then for my in-province one, I want to do it when they come play the Oilers, so I kind of, like, she was like, okay, well, do you have anything else, and I was like,
00:56:53
Speaker
Not really, honestly. Like, that was really my do or die So, but it did end up working out, which I am so, so, so, so grateful for because that is honestly the two best days of my life, like, ever.
00:57:08
Speaker
um It was amazing and I felt like, I truly did feel like when, like, a player on the team, And it was like it was just great. like And they got me my brent like my own jersey and stuff with my last name on it and stuff. And I asked them for 77 because Oshie is obviously my favorite.
00:57:27
Speaker
But they gave me number one because they wanted me to have my own like position on the team. And I thought that was really special. And they just treated me like gold. And it was so great and amazing.
00:57:42
Speaker
What was it like to meet TJ Oshie? Did you get a chance to speak with the goal? I mean, like, I'm sure like i'm sure you had a chance to talk with everybody on the organization. But just, i guess I guess first before I get ahead of myself, because yeah I care more about the goalies than I do the players.
00:57:58
Speaker
um So just getting to meet TJ Oshie, he's your favorite and NHL player. What was that experience like? I honestly couldn't believe it. Like, i kind of had, like, my hopes up. I was like, oh, my God, what if TJ's here? Like, oh, I'm going to freak out.
00:58:12
Speaker
I, and then i was, I was signing the like one day contract and they were like, oh yeah, we have like a bunch of goodies for you. And we have like a special guest. And know I was like, oh my God, if TJ Oshie walks through the store, I'm actually going start bawling my eyes out.
00:58:27
Speaker
And he did walk through the door and I kind of like froze. Like I was like, Oh my God. I felt so bad because I was like the most awkward I've ever been in my life.
00:58:38
Speaker
And he's probably like, okay, like, yeah, like it's so nice. And I'm like, yeah, but no, it was like, he's such a nice guy. Like, like,
00:58:50
Speaker
Everyone was like, don't get your hopes up. Like, you shouldn't, like, meet your heroes. But he honestly, like, outdid my expectations, which was pretty hard to do because I had pretty high expectations.
00:59:04
Speaker
So, yeah yeah, he was just great overall. And he was very, like, he'd, like, initiate conversation with me and stuff. Like, it was great.
00:59:14
Speaker
what was, what was the day like start to finish? So you, you go, you go down to Washington and you sign the one day contract, you meet TJ Oshie just kind of what was, what was, what was the whole day like with that?
00:59:29
Speaker
Yeah. So I have TJ brings me to the dressing room and I walk in and they're all just sitting there and I like my heart drops and I'm like,
00:59:42
Speaker
okay, like, this is real, and i see, like, i see, like, Milano, like, all the players that were hurt that came out anyway to come see me, and I thought that was really special, and I was, like, oh my god, because I, Milano was one of my favorites, and, but he was injured a lot of last year, so when I saw him there, I was, like, oh, oh, nice, like, and I saw a lot of, like, Hershey's that I liked, too, and I was, like,
01:00:09
Speaker
Like, I couldn't... like i Like, I was frozen. Like, I couldn't... Like, I couldn't stop smiling. Like, i had a permanent smile on my face. And basically, TJ brought me into the middle of the room, and he was like, this is Kaylin. Like, she'll be joining us. Like, i know you guys going to make her feel welcome and stuff. And...
01:00:27
Speaker
um He was just kind of explaining how I was goalie too. And i got to go around the room and shake everyone's hand, which was awesome. And i had my own stall and that was pretty cool.
01:00:41
Speaker
And the stall that I had was TJ's stall. So... okay yeah that's and then all that's yeah it was so good and then I got to get dressed and then I got to go on the ice for like half the practice I want to say and yeah like a bunch of the guys were just taking shots on me and stuff and it was great so two two separate questions here well'll I'll start with this one um strapping on the pads for the first time in probably what felt like years.
01:01:13
Speaker
Um, any concern, so was there any concern? ah and when you got out there, you know, just did it take a little bit to kind of get used to it again, or was it just basically like riding a bike?
01:01:26
Speaker
ah Like, at first, I was like, oh, yeah, I got this. But then as soon as, like, I think it was, like, five minutes, I was like, oh, I'm out of shape. Like, oh, I'm so out of breath. like That's me every day in beer league, by the way.
01:01:41
Speaker
I was like, I forgot how much, like, it actually takes to be, like, a goalie. And these guys are fast. And I know they weren't going fast on me, but it was felt like they were going really fast. So, like, oh, it was just, like,
01:01:55
Speaker
Yeah, like, my leg, like, it didn't even concern me because that's not what I was, like, focused on. But what I did notice was I was out of breath right away. But it was so fun. Like, I didn't want to stop.
01:02:08
Speaker
But I kind of had to because I couldn't breathe. So, yeah. No, yeah, no. Fair enough. I shudder at the thought of facing NHL shooters.
01:02:20
Speaker
You know, going to Vimy, you know, you face up against a lot of... lot of WHL guys, a lot of AA, AAA guys. So I share that sentiment to an extent. um So moving on from there and leads into my next question is that did you have a chance to talk with the goalies at all? I don't think I don't remember who was on that team in terms of goaltending at that point in time. But did you get a chance to talk with them at all?
01:02:45
Speaker
I'm assuming that you did, but just like get a chance to just kind of pick their brain just in terms of goaltending and just maybe just kind of pick up a thing or two from them. I mostly got to talk to Logan Thompson.
01:02:57
Speaker
um And he was the one I kind of like looked up to more, which is kind of like bad for me to say because I love them both. But um Logan Thompson was definitely like, well, he was their starter during that time.
01:03:12
Speaker
And he was like the one I looked to the most. And my mom actually asked him a question. He has like a blocker on his stick, like a little like foam thing that he the good the the goalie block I think is yeah general yeah and my mom was like oh what is that like why do you have that on your practice stick and then he was like yeah so my first practice with the capitals Ovi took a slapper and it broke my finger so during practice I always wear that now and then he actually gave me the stick and
01:03:45
Speaker
he signed He signed my helmet as well and the stick. So I have the stick in my garage and I'm going to put it on my wall. so Right on. um No, no, that's that's great. I mean, it was such a such a cool thing to see. And like it.
01:03:58
Speaker
that Because like we follow each other on Instagram, but that just randomly popped up on my story or on my on my feed with that and the caps in you. And so just i was really i was really I was really, really happy to see you happy and be able to see you living up sure living out many kids' dreams, but living out a dream to be with the Capitals, to hang out with them for the day and go from there. um i want to I want to switch gears here a little bit. I want to talk about your family for a second because I don't think a lot of people think about that.
01:04:27
Speaker
um when it comes to, you know, dealing with cancer diagnoses and such. ah Again, like i said earlier in the pod, you know, your dad was a big influence for you and just a big supporter for you.
01:04:38
Speaker
ah Just kind of just talk to you. Just talk to us a little bit about the importance of family and just kind of their their support throughout all of it. It was like, it was really special. And I was really, really grateful to have like someone there with me all the time.
01:04:54
Speaker
Like when I was in Florida, it was my mom was there for with me and my dad, but my mom had to go back because she had to go back to work. But my dad was with me the whole time.
01:05:05
Speaker
And i don't know if you know, like, I don't know if anyone knows what like the Ronald McDonald house looks like, but it's basically like a big hotel room. So there's two beds in the main room and then there's like a small kitchen and then the bathroom.
01:05:21
Speaker
And then there was a little like living room area and a different room. My dad gave me the whole, like, living, like, they gave me the whole, like, bedroom area so I could have my own privacy because we were there for so long.
01:05:34
Speaker
And, like, he just stayed in the living room the whole time, which I felt very bad for. But he just, he just wanted to make it, like, more, like, my space, kind of, because, like, that's how it would be at home.
01:05:48
Speaker
And when I was in the hospital, i would, my mom or my dad would either always be there, like, I would never spend like a night alone and I don't like I never worried about that and I'm so so happy for that and grateful for that because sometimes like it was really hard because when I had troubles walking and when I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night like they didn't like they never complained they never like blinked an eye if I needed something they were there
01:06:19
Speaker
and like which made me feel very terrible because I feel like I I feel like I'm usually like an independent person that wants to do everything myself but them being there it made like it was just very special and it yeah it was great like I could not have asked like for like a better group of parents to be there for me like yeah
01:06:46
Speaker
when you see your dad tell him, I i applaud him for, you know, the word that he put. I mean, like it's, it's, it sounds so silly because it, it sounds like it should be like a basic thing. You know, your kids are not feeling well, be there for your kid and such, but,
01:07:00
Speaker
Not a lot of parents are like that. And especially with dealing something like this, you know, it definitely is as much of a toll on your parents and your family as it is on the actual patients. So good on your dad, good on your whole family for for for being there. So just if you'd like to extend my my my congrats to them.
01:07:19
Speaker
um ah Wrapping up here, just tell us, what what what are you up to nowadays? we're we're We're about a year or so removed from everything that's gone on. As far as I'm aware, everything's in remission,
01:07:35
Speaker
right Yep. Everything so far is good. Excellent. um So just where, where are you? Where, where are you? Where are you now? What are you up to nowadays? Are you still playing? We kind of talked about a little bit off camera. um What's what's, what's up with Kayla and Anderson nowadays?
01:07:53
Speaker
Yeah, so I'm still going to Vimy and I'm back in the hockey program now, but I'm staying as a player in the hockey program. But outside of like school, I'm a goalie. So I kind of have like the both of it.
01:08:07
Speaker
And I think I just I just think that's fun. And, um yeah, i'm I just made the double A team um in Leduc because I got released from the Kings.
01:08:21
Speaker
So, but I'm back at double A, which is what was my final goal for my final year of minor hockey. So I'm really, really happy about that.
01:08:32
Speaker
Because more questions are popping into my head, I'm going to sidetrack again here quickly. We call it the Kevin Woodley special around here. We're not directly associated with with with with Woods. But um I guess I just want to talk about quickly as well, because you and I do share that connection with Vimy, just how supportive the Vimy staff was while you guys were going through this process, your teachers, your ah your your athletic teachers, um just kind of everybody in that whole realm, because I know that they were that they were on your side as well.
01:09:01
Speaker
Yeah, they were. They were really, really, really good. um I was in the lacrosse program at the time because I kind of wanted to, like, switch things up and try out, like, a new sport.
01:09:13
Speaker
And I didn't get to, like, do very much of it before I got, like, diagnosed and stuff. But even them, like, they were, like... they They were very supportive and they had my back no matter what. And they made they made their like they made T-shirts and whoever bought them, like the money would come to us so we could help with like treatments and stuff. And yeah, no, it was really special to have like everyone...
01:09:39
Speaker
Like, it felt like one big, like, family that was there to support me, and, like, I was just really grateful for that, and I think that's really, like, what helped me keep going, and all my teachers were great, and, like, yeah, it was just amazing, like, I'm so grateful for everyone there, like,
01:09:57
Speaker
Yeah. No, Vimy is one of those schools that, you know, it's it's it's it's a family there. And then one of one of us is, one of us is her, you know, everybody's everybody's willing to step in.
01:10:10
Speaker
um Much like your Fort Saskatchewan, Fury family as well. I know that they had a bottle drive for you, which my wife and I did go and drop off ah a bag of bottles there to support that. Thank you that. You're you're welcome.
01:10:22
Speaker
um So, I guess just to kind of wrap things up here. Um, what, so I'm going to leave it. I'm going to leave it here. Cause we could keep going down this rabbit hole. Um, I guess just thank you very much for coming on the pod and,
01:10:38
Speaker
sharing your story with us. um Obviously something that's a very, very, i don't want to call it a traumatic experience, but it is, but it just, just in an experience that nobody should ever really have to go through in their lifetime.
01:10:54
Speaker
um And so just the fact that you were willing to come on and share that with us, be part of October saves with that. um We really do appreciate that. I guess just to kind of cap things off here, any final thoughts and where can people find you if they want to kind of follow your journey?
01:11:12
Speaker
Yeah, so um thank you for having me, first of all. And um I'm on Instagram mainly, and it's just Kaylin Anderson, but with an extra N on the end.
01:11:24
Speaker
um i made like I recently made a post for um September since it's childhood cancer month and stuff like that. So I do post frequently about my journey there, I feel like.
01:11:39
Speaker
So, yeah, and I also post about my hockey and stuff and how it's going. so So we'll we'll we'll link your Instagram account down in the show notes.
01:11:50
Speaker
um So if you guys want to go give Kaylin follow on over on Instagram, go do that. um Yeah. Any final thoughts or anything for for the viewer viewers here before we let you go?
01:12:01
Speaker
Yeah, just anyone that's, like, going through something similar that I went through, just, like, I just want you to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and you have a huge support system that is behind you always.
01:12:15
Speaker
And if you're passionate about something, do not give up on it, regardless of what any anyone says. Because I was supposed to never skate again, and now I'm playing double-A again, which is something that I think is great, so...
01:12:30
Speaker
Yeah, well, that's that's awesome. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, that will be another edition of the DIY Goalie podcast presented by true North Goaltenning. If you guys are watching over on YouTube, make sure you go hit that like and subscribe button.
01:12:46
Speaker
ah If you are listening on your favorite podcasting platforms, whether that be Apple, iHeart or Spotify, if you're a new viewer or new listener, rather, makes sure you hit that follow button ah as well as if you are a returning listener or just a person in general who happens to come across a podcast, hit the share button because the more goalies that we are able to bring together, the better in case of point here between us and Kaylin Anderson.
01:13:10
Speaker
ah You guys can follow us on your favorite social media platforms. All of those should be under true North goaltending, except for Instagram, because we like to be different. That one is Y E G goalie coach. You can follow myself over on Instagram at Monday GC.
01:13:22
Speaker
Go check us out. True North goaltending.com. If you are in the Edmonton area and want to book a session with us, we do have a ah do have our facility sessions booking all year round. So you guys can go check that out. True North goaltending.com.
01:13:36
Speaker
um On behalf of myself, Caitlin Anderson and Nathan Park, this has been DIY goalie podcast presented by true North goaltending. Make some say as goalies. We'll see you guys next time. Take care.