Former Vancouver Canucks Prospect and NCAA Head Coach Battling Cancer

The Vancouver Canucks are gearing up for tonight's game against Sean Monahan and the Columbus Blue Jackets and as announced already the club will be without goaltender Thatcher Demko, who has been given a few days off to rest after Jiri Patera was called up from the American Hockey League's Abbotsford Canucks.

Also today, the Vancouver Canucks will be hosting their annual Hockey Fights Cancer Night with fans in attendance having the opportunity to fill out an "I Fight For" sign and before puck drop, a bell-ringing ceremony will take place after a five-year-old named Bryce got the news he was cancer-free after battling the horrible disease for two years.

Earlier on Saturday, the Vancouver Canucks organization and the hockey world as a whole received some tough news as one of the club's former prospects was diagnosed with cancer.

In a social media post on Saturday morning, the Montreal Canadiens announced that coaching consultant Roger Grillo, a former prospect of the Vancouver Canucks, has been diagnosed with cancer.

Grillo, 61, was selected in the tenth round, 190th overall by the Vancouver Canucks during the 1983 NHL Entry Draft after registering 13 points in 29 games during his first season in the NCAA with the University of Maine.

After the 1984-85 season, Grillo retired from hockey and turned his attention to the coaching side of things and spent time behind the bench in the NCAA for the University of Vermont, where he coached Martin St. Louis, and Brown University.

Ahead of the 2024-25 campaign, the Apple Valley, Minnesota native was hired by the Montreal Canadiens in a coaching consultant capacity, a role he still holds to date.

Everyone here at Canucks Daily would like to send their best wishes and their thoughts to Roger Grillo and his family as he fights this horrible disease.