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Shaved ice: Team sports clean look for good cause
BY Chris O’Dell, codell@starlocalnews.com
Defenseman Nick Blase was preparing for his rookie season with the Texas Tornado when he heard the news about his sister.
Clare Blase had a tumor removed less than a year before and tests revealed more problems for the 14 year old.
“We thought she had beaten it,” Nick said. “She got off treatment and we thought it was definitely gone.”
“She went through tough chemotherapy and had four or five good months,” Nick said. “Then the doctor called again and said they had found something.”
When Clare began to lose her hair during rounds of chemotherapy, Nick decided to shave his hair as short as he could for his sister. The 6-foot defenseman played his final season of Midgets with the St. Louis AAA Blues before being drafted by the Tornado in the third round of the 2012 NAHL Entry Draft.
“It was just something small that I wanted to do for her,” Nick said.
So after Clare received the bad news in early July, Nick again decided to shave his head and showed up to the Tornado locker room one day with a new look.
“We were kind of giving him crap about his hair,” said Justin Greenberg, Tornado assistant captain. “Then, we found out what it was for.”
The story quickly took off among Nick’s teammates and it wasn’t long before Greenberg and other Tornado players began sporting the same look as their new defenseman following a suggestion from captain Jackson Leef.
“It was an idea that kind of surprised even myself,” Leef said. “But [Clare] is battling cancer, so it’s the least we could do.”
Rookies such as Anthony Mousseau, Chase Matson and Brandon Hawkins quickly joined in after hearing Leef’s idea.
“One of my first thoughts was that Greenberg’s mom cuts hair,” Leef said.
Nick was unaware of his teammates’ decision until seeing a picture on Instagram after the players headed to Greenberg’s house in Plano.
“As soon as I saw the picture I called them up and asked them if I could come over,” Nick said.
An emotional Nick was taken back by the action of his teammates and the support for his younger sister.
“When I walked in and saw they all had shaved heads, all I wanted to do is cry,” Nick said. “It just shows how much support we have for each other that they could shave it off just like that. It was really inspirational.”
The group eventually sent the picture and a message saying “WE LOVE YOU CLARE” to Nick’s sister.
“She saw it and loved it,” Nick said. “She’s so strong now that she doesn’t really get emotional, but you could tell she loved it.”
The actions hit close to home for more than just Nick and Clare.
Hawkins, a rookie forward, lost a father figure to cancer earlier in his life and jumped at the opportunity to show support for cancer fighters.
“It’s such a hard subject for me,” Hawkins said. “But we’re all a family here. If one of us is down, then we’re all down.”
Nick feels the gesture speaks volumes about the character and camaraderie of this Tornado team.
“It’s just a brotherhood really,” he said. “Everyone gets along with each other and we all get together off the ice and hang out.”
The veteran Greenberg echoed those feelings.
“This is probably the tightest group of any team I’ve been a part of,” he said.
Seven of Nick’s teammates have followed his example to inspire Clare while the 14 year old receives treatment in Tennessee once a month.
Lost in the importance of Clare’s battle with adrenocortical carcinoma has been the Tornado’s unbeaten streak. The team has tallied an 8-0-0 mark with Nick in the lineup for all eight games thus far this season.
It won’t be long until Clare sees her older brother again and his new-look teammates, with the Blase family planning a trip to Kansas after Thanksgiving to see the Tornado play in Topeka.
“I can’t wait for her to meet everyone,” Nick said.
Texas returns to the ice tomorrow with a 7:30 p.m. home game at Dr Pepper Arena against Topeka.
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