The Cape Breton Eagles were pleased to welcome Jacob Newcombe back to the lineup after his battle with cancer.
January 18 was a special day in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. It was a script straight out of Hollywood. After being diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma during a medical evaluation in July, Jacob Newcombe returned to the Cape Breton Eagles lineup. If that wasn’t enough to make it a memorable game, it was Hockey Fights Cancer Night at Centre 200 is Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Prior to his 2023-2024 debut, the Eagles organization called a press conference to announce the news. Head Coach Louis Robitaille made it official.
“It’s a big day for the Eagles but most specially for Jacob Newcombe. As you know, he battled cancer for the last few months. It’s been a tough grind for him personally. We were supposed to have Cancer Night in November, but for his debut, it will be our Cancer Night. It’s a great story. We’re really excited to have him back.”
Visiting the Nest that evening was none other than Newcombe’s former team, the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.
“It’s quite the coincidence. It wasn’t the plan to play against them. It’s great especially with the Hockey Fights Cancer night.”
The 19-year-old forward ‘rang the bell’ on December 7th to officially announce he was in remission.
“That was pretty special. That was my last treatment and I’m cancer-free now. I was diagnosed the end of July. That was a shock. The doctors moved pretty quickly on it. I’m thankful for that. I had treatments every three weeks. I had six rounds of chemo.”
While undergoing treatment, Newcombe stayed in shape by practicing with his former Midget team, the Halifax Macs, along with the Saint Mary’s University Huskies of USports.
Recently, we learned Baie-Comeau Drakkar defenseman Émile Chouinard has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Newcombe was asked if he had a message for anyone going through the same treatments.
“It’s not easy but there’s tons of support. Just battle through it.”
Since his return to the lineup January 18 against Chicoutimi, Newcombe has recorded three goals and three assists in five games. With his presence around the team and in the locker room, along with the acquisitions of Lucas Romeo and Tomas Cibulka, the Eagles are playing spirited hockey with seven wins in their past 10 games. An underwhelming first half is in the rear-view mirror with Cape Breton only six points behind the Moncton Wildcats for 2nd in the Maritimes Division.
Be sure to bookmark THN.com/QMJHL for year-round coverage of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on The Hockey News-QMJHL. Also follow us on Twitter @HockeyNewsQMJHL.
