Playing in Providence
P-Bruins goaltender Jordan Sigalet understands the true meaning of providence, excelling in the net as he faces down Multiple Sclerosis
Mike Scandura
Minor League News
12.15.05 - There probably isn’t a more appropriate place for rookie goaltender Jordan Sigalet to play than in Providence.
The town’s name literally means “The protective care of God.”
Sigalet, who turned 23 on Feb. 19, 2004, was diagnosed shortly thereafter with multiple sclerosis, an inflammatory disease that affects the central nervous system, which in turn affects the brain and spinal cord.
The cause is unknown. There is no cure.
The dream of playing professional hockey alongside his younger brother, Jonathan, appeared to be just that: a dream.
Sigalet, Boston's seventh-round pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, was on the verge of living a nightmare.
"Right away your first reaction is 'Why me? I'm so young and why is this happening to me,' " Sigalet said after a recent P-Bruins practice.
"I learned pretty fast that a lot of fighting this is attitude and if I was going to be in that 'why me? state', I wasn't going to go anywhere in my hockey career or in my life. That disease was just going to take me over.
"If you stand up against it and fight against it with a positive attitude, that's half the battle."
The Big 180
Sigalet, a native of Surrey, British Columbia, had battled his way into a starting role as a sophomore at Bowling Green State University. Then, on the weekend of Feb. 27-28, 2004, he stopped 41 of 42 shots during a 2-1 victory over Northern Michigan and 24 of 26 shots in a 2-2 tie against the same team.
For a third time that season, Jordan was named the CCHA Defensive Player of the Week, on March 1. Yet he wasn't able to bask in the glow of that award because his life started to unravel that morning.
When he awoke, his right foot was "completely numb."
The next morning, he was numb from the neck down.
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