Collins happy mother back up to strength
MILWAUKEE -- The Hobey Baker Award, the secondary trophy for Chris Collins this weekend, didn't go the Boston College winger's way last night. That honor went to Denver's Matt Carle, the three-year defenseman who turned pro with the San Jose Sharks three weeks ago and scored in his first NHL game.
Collins, however, didn't care. Unlike Carle, his teammate when they played squirt hockey for a Boston-based travel team, Collins is playing the college game tonight in pursuit of the one trophy he came for: the Big One.
He's still in the hunt for the championship, accompanied these last few days in Milwaukee by the people closest to him. On Thursday, after he scored the third of his three goals against North Dakota in the national semifinals, Collins spotted his father, Glenn, and brother, Greg, in the Bradley Center stands and skated toward them to celebrate, separated by only a pane of plexiglass. His younger sisters, Kelly and Courtney, were sitting right next to their father and brother.
And most important, Collins's mother, Anne, was in Section 210 as well, wearing a BC sweatshirt and cheering her head off -- a sight the Collins family, for some time, had trouble picturing.
In September 2004, Anne Collins suffered an attack of what she thought was extreme fatigue. For the next few months, she felt worn down. The Collinses, who reside in Fairport, N.Y., had kept up a wicked road schedule that year. They drove to Chris's games at BC, Greg's United States Hockey League matches, Kelly's games with her travel team, and Courtney's cheerleading competitions, all while running Village Sports, their children's fitness center in Fairport that also serves as a preschool, day care, and site for birthday parties.
But the woman whom Chris calls a go-go lady lacked the strength that once kept her buzzing like a third-line energy forward. At BC games, after the six-hour drive from Fairport to Chestnut Hill, she hobbled up the Conte Forum stairs and collapsed in her seat. She suffered another attack in the middle of the winter. All the while, her family worried and wondered, with oldest son Chris questioning what affliction had overcome his mother.
In March 2005, Anne, whose doctors considered everything from a virus to fatigue, finally received the correct diagnosis: multiple sclerosis.
''I was relieved to get the diagnosis. I was not relieved to find out I had MS," said Anne. ''But everything began to make sense. I could move forward and regroup."
The next step, however, was to inform her children. BC was in the playoffs. Cedar Rapids, Greg's USHL club, seemed a world away. So Anne held off at first, not wanting to worry them. When she finally told them, Chris remembered being shocked but confused by the mysteries of MS. Anne told her children not to fret -- which, of course, they did.
''I was down, but she was the one who was saying, 'Hey, don't worry about it. It could be worse. It could be cancer,' " Chris recalled. ''She's been making it easy for all of the family."
Since the diagnosis, Anne enrolled in a clinical trial. Through the University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center, Anne has been taking an experimental drug each month under the watch of Dr. Benjamin Segal. She said she's been feeling much better after taking the drug, which has allowed her to control her MS symptoms and return to her seat at Conte.
''She's missed, like, two games all year," said an incredulous Chris. ''I just respect her a ton for what she's gone through."
Her travels, which extended to Durham this year to watch Greg as a University of New Hampshire freshman, were nearly cut short two weekends ago. En route from Worcester to Albany, where the Collins clan was headed to watch the Wildcats play Michigan State, the family's van began to slow. Somewhere in the Berkshires -- Anne estimated they were 50 miles from Albany -- the alternator failed. Somehow, the sputtering Chevy limped to Pepsi Arena, where Anne and Glenn watched the UNH game, rented a car, and drove back to Worcester for BC's game against Boston University.
Since then, the Collinses replaced the alternator and drove earlier this week from Fairport to Milwaukee, where they've been enjoying Chris's exploits and Anne's good health. She called this season a blessing, citing Chris's last regular-season home game at Conte Forum that, appropriately, came against the Wildcats and Greg. As Chris skated out to Glenn and a teary Anne before the game, they were joined by Greg for a family hug.
Last night, the Collins crew gathered once again at the Bradley Center to watch the Hobey Baker ceremony. As it's been all season, Chris Collins was on the ice with his family behind him.
''It's been such a thrill this year, but it's always been a thrill whether [Chris] has scored 20 goals or 50," said Anne, whose doctor estimates a cure for MS is six years away. ''It's not any different now. It's sad and sweet to see him end at BC, but it's been a fantastic year to watch Chris play. I'm so proud of him. It's overwhelming to me. It means so much to me to see the boys play. It's worth every mile down the highway each weekend. BC's been the best thing that's ever happened to us. I couldn't have dreamed of anything different."
