"I went to a hospital right away and that's when they ran a bunch of tests, like an MRI and a spinal tap," he said. "Shortly thereafter I was diagnosed with MS. I didn't really know what it was at the time. Doctors were telling me I probably wouldn't be able to play again and maybe I wouldn't be able to walk. This disease is so different for everyone that they didn't know what was going to happen with me.
"It was a dark road ahead of me, and I just had to learn to take things one day at a time."
Brother Jonathan Sigalet, at the time an 18-year-old defenseman with the Falcons, was crushed.
"I was shocked … I couldn't believe it at first," he said. "I thought he was too young and too fit to be diagnosed with something as traumatic as that. I thought there must have been a misdiagnosis. I was waiting for somebody to come back in a week and tell me 'We made a mistake and he has a slipped disk in his back,' or something like that.
'"It was really scary."
New Training Regimen
Sigalet found a new training regimen: A three-injections-per-day schedule was prescribed.
It didn’t slow him down. During his senior year, he led the nation in minutes played, saves and shots faced. He compiled a 2.89 goals-against average, was voted to the All-CCHA Team for a second straight year and was a 2005 Hobey Baker Award finalist.
"We played against guys in college who were the same guys we played against for a few years," said Jonathan Sigalet. "We'd shake their hands after games and you could see they were inspired by him and amazed at the level he was playing at, with the disease he was fighting off the ice."
The only chink in Jordan Sigalet's armor was his desire to keep the disease private, known only to family, close friends and teammates.
"My biggest worry about going public about the disease was what the Bruins were going to think since I was picked by them in 2001," he said. "I didn't want them to hold that against me.”
10 months after his diagnosis, he held a press conference where, in effect, he bared his soul.
“I finally realized that I needed to talk about it and take a big load off my chest. Besides that, it gave me a chance to reach out and touch others who are suffering with the disease. Maybe I could be an inspiration to them. As soon as I proved I could play with it, I felt it would be time to come out and tell people besides my teammates and family."
The reaction was such that Jordan Sigalet was nominated for a 2005 ESPY Award as "Best Comeback Athlete."
Buck Stopper
What he has done off the ice, in a sense, pales in comparison with what he's done while wearing pads and a facemask.
