On Thursday night, Brian Boyle scored both his first goal as a member of the New Jersey Devils and his first goal since being diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia.
Brian Boyle continued to prove that he wasn’t going to let his cancer diagnosis alter his ability to thrive at hockey on Thursday night. The 32-year-old center found the back of the net after banging home his own rebound off former teammate and current Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot, and the Prudential Center erupted.
Brian Boyle gets his first goal since leukemia diagnosis prior to the season pic.twitter.com/NZS5FQwOoZ
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) November 10, 2017
After putting his team up 1-0, the look on the Massachusetts native’s face during his celebration tells the entire story.
There are no words to describe how that must feel.@BriBrows22 is on the board. #BoyleStrong #HockeyFightsCancer pic.twitter.com/9UCBAcGKr7
— NHL (@NHL) November 10, 2017
After his initial diagnosis, Boyle was willing to take small steps in order to return to the ice as soon as possible. After missing New Jersey’s first ten games of the season, Boyle made his season debut on November 1, as New Jersey took out Vancouver 2-0. On November 9, Boyle picked up his first assist of the season in New Jersey’s 3-1 loss against St. Louis.
During the first intermission, Boyle was unsurprisingly interviewed and admitted that he was for good reason, extremely emotional following the goal. “I’ve never cried after a goal before, It’s a lot. It’s everything. Everything I talked about before the game… my wife, my kids, they’ve been through a lot too. It’s a good feeling.”
Brian Boyle admits he cried after scoring first goal since returning from chronic myeloid leukemia. Pretty special. pic.twitter.com/4J4Py8SABt
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) November 10, 2017
The 6-foot-6, 240-pounder has now scored goals with the L.A. Kings, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, and now New Jersey Devils, and shows no signs of slowing down.
