Tumor & NHL: The moving story of Leland Irving

“Iiiirving, Iiiirving, Iiiirving,” is what regularly echoes through the ice wave after HCB home victories. The HCB fans celebrate and love their goalie. On the one hand, because he always brings the spectators in the stands with him spectacular saves rips from the seats. On the other hand, because he has long been a huge support in the HCB squad, as evidenced by a catch rate of 92 percent in the current season. “At the beginning of the championship,” Irving analyzes, “things weren’t going so well, not even for me. I was still struggling with the effects of a knee injury. But now it’s working again, even with the knee.”

Canada, Russia, Finland and the NHL It is obvious that Irving feels at home in South Tyrol. This was clearly visible in March this year. The HCB championship had just ended in the quarter-finals when the goalie's contract had already been extended - a rarity for the Foxes, who usually take a long time to plan their squad. “My family,” says the friendly Canadian, who lives in Girlan with his wife and three daughters, “likes it here, I love the mountains, the food, the wine, the people. It just fits here.”

“Here in Europe every boy dreams of becoming a football star one day. In Canada, on the other hand, everyone wants to play in the NHL one day.” Leland Irving When words like that come out of the mouth of Leland Irving, it means something. The 31-year-old has already moved around a lot in his career. In the AHL he played for various clubs in the USA and Canada, in western Russia he donned the uniform of KHL club Salavat Yulaev Ufa and in the south of Finland he guarded the goal for KooKoo and Jokerit.

Irving (right) played 13 games in the NHL. © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Derek Leung

Irving experienced the highlight of his career between 2011 and 2013 in southwest Canada, when he played 13 games in the NHL for the Calgary Flames. “Here in Europe every boy dreams of becoming a football star one day. In Canada, on the other hand, everyone wants to play in the NHL one day. I am eternally grateful that I was able to live this dream. “It was the best time of my life,” the Canadian still raves about it today. The shock diagnosis at 7 years old However, it is by no means a given that Irving was and is allowed to live his dream of becoming a professional ice hockey player. The Canadian was 7 years old when he received a shock diagnosis. “The doctors said I had rhabdomyosarcoma. This is a highly malignant and very rare tumor. If the doctors hadn't caught it early enough, it could have been bad," said Irving.

In 2006, Irving was drafted by the Calgary Flames at the age of 18. © Getty Images North America / Harry How

“It was a very difficult time for my parents back then. However, I was still too young to realize all of this. I just took my medicine and I felt better.” Still, the young Irving had to go through a lot. “I did chemotherapy for 13 months. Luckily the cancer was defeated and didn't come back. Nevertheless: My oldest daughter is 7 years old, if I had to go through that as a parent now, it would be brutal.” Ice hockey as therapy Hockey helped Irving a lot during this time. What's more: it was, so to speak, his very special therapy. “I only missed one training session and game during my illness. Otherwise I always played ice hockey. And when I wasn't on the ice, we played hockey in the yard. “That made me feel like I was actually a completely normal child despite being sick,” says the goalkeeper.

Irving delivers consistent performance at HCB.

A few years after the illness, Irving was finally drafted and his career took off. But why did he move to HC Bozen? “Alex Petan (ex-HCB crack, editor’s note) is a good friend of mine. I followed him on social media and always thought the photos were great. We also wrote, and when the opportunity arose to come to Bolzano, I wanted to try it with my family.” An experiment that paid off – both for Irving and for HC Bozen.

ICE Regular Season ICE	SP	TV	P
1. Klagenfurt	47	183:101	102
2. Fehervar	46	146:126	89
3. Salzburg	46	142:107	87
4. HCB South Tyrol	46	137:125	76
5. Linz	46	146:116	75
6. Villach	46	155:136	74
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Tumor & NHL: The moving story of Leland Irving

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