Hockey

Their friendship started simply enough.

They were teammates with the Alberta Junior Hockey League's Bonnyville Pontiacs, had lockers next to each other, and lived on the same block. She had a car, and he needed lifts to the rink. After practice, they would go for lunch at the all-you-can-eat buffet.

Back then, about five years ago, Shannon Szabados and Matthew Cook, both of Edmonton, were teenagers chasing hockey dreams.

Ultimately, she was going to have to move into women's hockey and compete for a spot on the national team. He wasn't deluding himself with NHL visions, but reasonably felt like he could earn a scholarship from a National Collegiate Athletic Association program in the United States, and receive a free education via the sport he loved.

But in January of 2006, all that started to change.

Cook, now 22, began experiencing ankle pain, and a month later, was diagnosed with bone cancer. Before that year ended, he went through two amputations on his left leg, and chemotherapy. His able-bodied hockey career would end.

At first, he was bitter, and wanted nothing to do with disabled sports. All he wanted to do was learn how to walk again, but his father and brother persisted and, grudgingly, he took up sledge hockey in 2007, then made the national team in 2008.

Cook is considered one of the quickest studies in the history of Hockey Canada's sledge program, and he attributes his improvement to goal-setting.

"It was a huge honour," Cook said of making the national team. "After everything I had been through, it was almost an opportunity for me to thank and give back to all those who had supported me throughout my struggles."

A new dream was cast - the 2010 Paralympics in Vancouver - one which would happen one month after Szabados, 23, and the women's national team played for gold at the Winter Olympics.

All looked good until last October.

Cook was tired and wheezing after training sessions. His cancer was spreading for a second time, and he had to stop playing.

"It was devastating," Cook wrote via e-mail. "I had worked so hard to recover from surgery, to ensure I would get the chance to play in 2010. The hype had already begun building for the Paralympics and this year was the goal I had been working for, and was aiming for, when I started sledge hockey."

Instead, Szabados will carry his dream forward.

"I would say every Canadian who doesn't have the opportunity to play for their country is given the opportunity to live their Olympic dreams through her and other athletes," Cook wrote. "Especially in a sport like hockey."

Szabados is expected to be Canada's No.1 goaltender when the tournament begins this weekend, and she will have a special sticker on the back plate of her helmet. It reads "FLM" for "Fight Like Matt" and it contains his No.23 from their junior days. (Importantly, it has been approved by the International Olympic Committee's logo police.)

"It's so unfortunate," Szabados said of Cook, who will watch the Games at home. "He's battled so hard, and worked so hard."

She has also helped raise money for cancer research in Cook's name.

The Shannon Szabados Saves for the Cure program started in Bonnyville, located in eastern Alberta about 240 kilometres from Edmonton, with a local sporting goods store donating $1 for each save. It has since moved to Grant MacEwan College, where Szabados played for the men's team, and the women's national team, where thousands have been raised thanks to sponsors and Szabados.

"Throughout this whole time I have had people in my corner, willing to support me and give me motivation to keep fighting and Shannon has been a huge aspect of that," Cook said. "Cancer is a horrible disease and it gives me hope knowing there are people who continue to fight against it. I feel honoured to have met her."