Philadelphia Flyers assistant coach Ian Laperriere did not know about pancreatic cancer until 2007 when his father was diagnosed with it at the age of 52.
Three years later, Michel Laperriere lost his battle. The ordeal educated Ian Laperriere about the severe impact of the disease.
"When we all found out it just hit us like a brick," Laperriere said. "He fought for three years, I'll give him that. That's a tough cancer. There's no good cancer but that's probably one of the worst. You don't last that long. Even as strong as you are and as much fight as you put in, that cancer is very aggressive and it's tough to survive.