The San Diego Gulls held their annual Hockey Fights Cancer Night on Jan. 16 to promote cancer awareness and fundraising for local organizations.
The event honored cancer survivors, fighters and caregivers.
As part of the special night, the San Diego Gulls Foundation hosted an auction for signed, game-worn player jerseys to benefit Susan G. Komen and Relay for Life. Prior to the game, fans had a chance to fill out personal placards denoting the people they fight for, whether family, friends or themselves.
Representatives from Relay for Life and Susan B Komen took part in the ceremonial puck drop. During an in-game play stoppage, the lights were turned down in Pechanga Arena and fans asked to turn on their cell phone lights in support. It was a surreal yet poignant moment.
Cancer knows no boundaries. The Gulls can empathize with that through defenseman Will Francis, who beat acute lymphoblastic leukemia three times to skate in three games for the AHL team last spring while making his professional debut.
Tabbed in the sixth round by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft (163rd overall), the 215-pound Minnesota native made his Gulls debut in a game against the Coachella Valley Firebirds on April 13, 2025, a 4-3 San Diego overtime victory.
It was a courageous battle to get there — “unbelievable,” Francis said — after missing the entirety of both the 2020-21 and 2023-24 NCAA seasons as well as a majority of the 2021-22 and 2024-25 seasons for the University of Minnesota Duluth while undergoing multiple treatments for the disease.
He appeared in 37 career games for the Bulldogs with one assist and 29 penalty minutes after logging 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) and 151 PIM in 69 career games with Cedar Rapids in the United States Hockey League.
Francis attended this season’s preseason training camp with both the Ducks and Gulls but was assigned to the Gulls’ ECHL affiliate in Tulsa prior to the start of the season
He appeared in two games with the Oilers before suffering a relapse. He remains under contract to the Gulls, though no date has been set for a return to active play as he remains in close contact with doctors.
He continues to rely on the support of family, his girlfriend and her family, and the team.
And the support of hockey fans, who continue to fight for him.
Red and Black
San Diego State University’s men’s ice hockey team held its own Hockey Fights Cancer Night on Oct. 24 when hosting the University of Utah for a two-game series at the Kroc Center Ice Arena.
The Aztecs held the event in recognition of goaltender Patrick “Paddy” O’Donnell, who passed away two months earlier from glioblastoma, a rare brain disease he had been courageously battling for three years.
O’Donnell was well-entrenched within the San Diego hockey community and had ties to the SDSU program.
He played for Aztec assistant coach Jason Galea on the San Diego Saints youth club from 2016-17 and was a teammate of Braden Mayer, SDSU’s current second-leading scorer, on the Jr. Gulls club in 2015-16 and 2018.
O’Donnell was hard to forget, charismatic and instantly capturing one’s attention. In particular, the goaltender’s easy-going personality helped calm teammates in tense situations.
“He had a knack of cracking a joke at the right moment to make everything go away,” Mayer said.
“Patrick was a fantastic teammate who always put others before himself,” Galea noted.
O’Donnell’s older sister Annie participated in the ceremonial puck drop at the SDSU Hockey Fights Cancer tribute and read aloud a message she had prepared for the event. It was an emotional moment for fans and friends of the local hockey star.
The Aztecs raffled off a Gulls basket with the proceeds going to Stache Strong. Fans showed their support by contributing $300.
The game date against Utah was chosen because O’Donnell played for the Utes.
O’Donnell’s hockey career was a journey filled with flashes of brilliance and the understandable growing pains, though too many of the latter.
“Patrick ‘Paddy’ O’Donnell embodied courage, kindness and the joy of living life with purpose,” his sister Annie read aloud. “A proud Carlsbad native and gifted hockey goaltender, Paddy’s love for the game was matched only by his love for people. Before taking his talents to Utah to be the netminder for the Utah Utes Division 1 and Division 2 teams, He played his entire youth career in San Diego with the Iceoplex Penguins, San Diego Jr. Gulls, San Diego Saints and the Pacific Ridge Firebirds.
“When faced with a brain cancer diagnosis, he turned adversity into advocacy — inspiring teammates, coaches and fans across the hockey world with his strength and grace. He faced each challenge with the same approach he had in net: confident, hopeful, focusing on one shot at a time with a smile on his face. Paddy’s unwavering optimism and genuine heart brought people together and reminded all who knew him that even in life’s hardest battles, there is light to be shared. His legacy will continue to shine through every life he touched.”
O’Donnell and his heroic journey were first highlighted at the Gulls’ Hockey Fights Cancer Night on Nov. 26, 2022 when the then 20-year-old netminder was honored during on-an ice pregame ceremony and prior to that a behind-the-scenes visit with the team in the Gulls’ locker room.
The AHL team took O’Donnell under its wing. He attended video sessions with Jeff Glass, the team’s goaltending coch, to learn about the intracacies of the game at higher levels.
O’Donnell was invited to read the Gulls’ lineup to the team that night and watched the game with Gulls officials from the press box
Before the night was over, the Gulls honored O’Donnell with the team’s first Hockey Fights Cancer community award. He was included in the post-game three-star selection along with Gulls goaltender Lukas Dostal.
O’Donnell referred to it as a once in a lifetime opportunity.
That was just the beginning.
O’Donnell and his family were later hosted by the Anaheim Ducks for the NHL team’s Hockey Fights Cancer celebration a year later.
The University of Utah also held Hockey Fights Cancer events in his honor and created an award specifically in remembrance.
A life remembered
O’Donnell as born on July 6, 2002, in Carlsbad. He played the game he loved since he first learned to skate at 6. He got his start innocently enough on roller blades with goaltender pads. He was soon playing organized youth ice hockey at an elite level.
It didn’t take long for his natural talent to emerge. He donned pads in 2014-15 with the Jr. Gulls in the prestigious Quebec International Pee Wee tournament, appearing in two games without allowing a goal. He played the 2015-16 season with the Jr. Gulls T1EHL 13U-AAA team, getting his feet wet with a 1.00 goals-against average and 0.964 save percentage.
He played for the Saints 14 U-AA team in 2016-17, appearing in 15 games with a 4.26 GAA and 0.847 save percentage. He returned to the Jr. Gulls program in 2017-18 at the 16 U-AAA level, logging three ECEL 16U games with a 2.00 GAA and 0.913 save percentage.
He played the next three seasons with the Firebirds in the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League to much acclaim.
He appeared in nine games his first season in 2017-18 with a 3.12 GAA and 0.866 save percentage while posting a 3-5 record. He braced the team in one playoff game with a 5.00 GAA and 0.844 save percentage.
He advanced those numbers his second season in 2018-19 with a 2.12 GAA, 0.891 save percentage, 14-2 regular season record and four shutouts in 16 games. He led the Firebirds to a 1-1 playoff mark with a 3.00 GAA and 0.824 save percentage.
He saved his best for his last high school season in 2019-20 with a 0.99 GAA and 0.950 save percentage in eight games at the North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL) 18U level (6-0-1 record with three shutouts) and 2.15 GAA and 0.891 save percentage in 16 games in the ADHSHL (11-8 record with two shutouts).
He appeared in four NAPHL playoff games with a 0.50 GAA, 0.950 save percentage with two shutouts and a 3-1 record. He led the Firebirds to a Division I championship in the ADHSHL with a 4-0 record that included a 2.50 GAA and 0.892 save percentage. He was voted MVP of the tournament.
In 41 games at the high school level, he recorded a cumulative 2.73 GAA, 0.886 save percentage, six shutouts and a 28-15 regular season record. In seven playoff games, he posted a 5-2 record with a 3.53 GAA and 0.868 save percentage.
His hockey odyssey took him next to the University of Utah where the 5-foot-10, 165-pound netminder appeared in four games at the ACHA Division 2 level and one game at the Division 1 level in 2021-22 while studying computer science and chemistry.
He set to return to Utah for the 2022-23 season, his junior year, but experienced a seizure just days before departing. The diagnosis was grim. It was discovered he had three tumors. The disease was identified as glioblastoma, a fast-growing, aggressive and incurable brain cancer.
He met the deadly diagnosis head on, drawing on years of his hockey training and approach to playing each game — one save at a time. He didn’t shirk away. His focus was on staying positive and keeping those around him positive.
The youngest of five children, O’Donnell learned on his hockey family — three older brothers played the sport and his father Hugh was a goaltender at the University of Notre Dame. He also leaned on the hockey community at large, which responded in kind for one of its own.
It was unusual for someone as young as O’Donnell to develop the disease, which forms tumors in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. At one point, he was given just months to live.
As a patient, O’Donnell underwent four surgeries, including one on Christmas Day 2022. Treatments included medication, injections, chemotherapy, radiation and 24-hour electrode and therapy sessions through services at nearby UC San Diego Health.
In his fight for life, he turned months into years.
“It’s not just me fighting this battle,” he said at the time. “I have all these people behind me supporting me, I’ve just been overwhelmed by the amount of support I’ve had from my family and friends.”
Dostal became one of the latter.
The Gulls netminder had a rare occasion to score a goal in a game on March 2, 2022 in a 5-2 victory in Colorado. Dostal became just the 16th goaltender in American Hockey League history to do so.
Being a goaltender and having lost a grandmother to pancreatic cancer, Dostal developed a special relationship to O’Donnell. Dostal visited the family often even when his own personal journey took him to the NHL with the Ducks.
Dostal was amazed by O’Donnell’s courage, noting the young man was still able to smile despite his ongoing battle with the devastating disease. The goaltender pledged to do whatever he could to help O’Donnell and his family.
The young goaltender displayed grit and determination in the face of daunting challenges. He served as an inspiration for those battling the deadly disease. He became a role model for other patients.
O’Donnell said he was grateful for all the support for himself and his family, noting that, in his words, “adversity like this brings people together.”
Hockey community remains a fortress of strength.
Things began to brighten when MRI scans showed shrinkage in the tumors. He was given clearance to resume his studies at Utah. He never gave up hope of playing again. With some assistance, he was even able to make a brief return to the ice.
He was honored in July 2024 with the End Brain Cancer Initiative’s National HOPE Award at the UC San Diego Health’s Stanford Stem Cell Institute for demonstrating hope, resilience and determination in the face of his diagnosis.
The Brain Cancer Initiative will celebrate its 24th year in 2026 focusing on increasing patient access and promoting disease education, awareness and outreach.
The U.S. Senate passed a resolution in June 2024 designating July 17 at Glioblastoma Awareness Day in light of the plights of the late Senators John McCain and Ted Kennedy as well as the late Beau Biden, son of former President Joe Biden.
There is hope that future therapeutic and medical advances will shed light on a cure for the disease that afflicts thousands of Americans each year.
“It takes a ‘special person’ to face glioblastoma head on with such courage and authenticity and to serve as a role model for other patients,” said Dr. Jessica Schulte, a board-certified neurologist at UC San Diego Health who treats patients with grain tumors and was a member of O’Donnell’s care team.
The honors did not stop.
During the 2024-25 season, O’Donnell was honored by both the University of Utah hockey program and the Utah Mammoth of the National Hockey League during their Hockey Fights Cancer games.
But his three-year battle with the disease ultimately did end. He passed away on Aug. 23, 2025. He was 23.
The Firebirds hosted their Hockey Fights Cancer Night on Nov. 15 at IceRealm Carlsbad in memory of O’Donnell.
“We will carry Paddy’s light forward as a source of hope, courage, and inspiration on and off the ice and for all who continue the fight,” the club posted on its Instagram site. “Forever with us, Paddy, we love you always.”
The Aztecs are playing their final road series of the 2025-26 season at the University of Utah this weekend, Feb. 13-14, to also play for Paddy.
The light continues to burn.
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