KURTZ & FATHER FIGHTING TWO DIFFERENT BATTLES
Former Burlington Cougars forward John Kurtz (photo credit - John Wright/Norfolk Admirals), now with the Norfolk Admirals, is helping to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society this season.
The Oakville, Ontario native played one full season in the OJHL as a 16-year old rookie with the Burlington Cougars in 2005-06 after being drafted by the Windsor Spitfires in the 5th round, 86th overall, of the 2005 OHL Priority Selection. He would record 18 points in 42 games with the Cougars before joining the OHL fulltime with the Spits and later the Sudbury Wolves, where he would be awarded the Mickey Renaud Captain's Trophy for winning the OHL Commitment Award.
Below is a recent story on Kurtz's efforts, written by Jon Kuiperij of the Oakville Beaver (www.insidehalton.com):
Having already been in 11 scraps this season, John Kurtz is quickly developing a reputation around the American Hockey League of being a good fighter.
That’s a trait that runs in the family, but in a much different sense than you might expect.
And there’s obviously a soft spot to the 23-year-old Oakville resident that belies the number of penalty minutes — 67 in 32 games — that he’s racked up this season.
Every time his Norfolk Admirals win a game, Kurtz is donating $25 to the Hampton Roads Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Last weekend, the Admirals posted their 20th win of the campaign, meaning Kurtz — a pro hockey player but no millionaire, having signed a standard AHL player contract last fall — has already donated $500 to the cause. Thanks to additional donations from family, friends and fans (including $500 from former Sudbury Wolves OHL teammate and current Buffalo Sabres player Marcus Foligno), Kurtz’s online donation site has raised nearly $5,000 this season.
“I’m not really making the big bucks. Not yet, anyway,” Kurtz chuckled. “But when I have a little bit of money, it’s good to spend it in good ways, rather than going out and buying another pair of shoes.”
The Admirals encourage their players to be active in the community and give back in whatever ways they can, but Kurtz said the initiative was something he came up with on his own. Multiple sclerosis was the obvious choice as a beneficiary, since the crippling disease has had a profound impact on Kurtz’s family. In 2005, Kurtz’s father Peter — a man John describes as a very active guy, a man who was often outside playing with his children when they were youngsters — was diagnosed with MS.
“I didn’t really know exactly what it was, what kind of effect it would have on him,” John said. “I was in shock, in disbelief. You don’t really think stuff like that happens to you.”
MS is an complex disease of the central nervous system characterized by relapses, remissions and often progression of disability over time. Currently, there is no cure.
The Kurtz family faced a decision: either mourn the diagnosis or be grateful for the good time Peter had left. Led by Peter’s example, they chose to do the latter.
“It didn’t change his routine at all. He still did everything he wanted to do,” John said of his father. “He used it as an excuse that we could beat him in sports. We’ll let him have that for now.”
Peter, who runs his own pump distribution company out of Oakville and his hometown of Windsor, isn’t one to feel sorry for himself. He hasn’t even told most of his employees that he has the disease.
“I’m hobbling around with a brace on my leg and I shrug it off as old hockey injuries,” said the 54-year-old, who moved to Oakville in 1990.
“It’s kind of nice for me because my shop is in Windsor and I work out of my house here in Oakville. I’ve been able to hide it very well, not being around employees all the time. I don’t want to get any sympathy.”
Peter hasn’t been able to run for more than seven years, but he still continues to lift weights each morning to maintain his strength. To Peter, it’s about focusing on what he can do, rather than what he can’t.
“I hobble around, but so what? I just have to keep fighting and keep life normal and keep doing what I can,” Peter said. “There are worse things out there. I’m still vertical.”
John determined to make NHL
John has a similar mentality when it comes to his hockey career. John, who captained the Wolves from 2008-10, was Sudbury’s second-highest goal scorer in the 2009-10 season and was third in team scoring the previous year. But he went undrafted by NHL teams and is now fighting — literally, on some nights — to keep his NHL dream alive. On top of his role as a checker and protector of the Admirals’ top talent, John has also emerged this season as a strong penalty killer.
“I’m just willing to do whatever it takes to make it here and go on to the next level,” said John, who has scored three goals this season and has 11 points in 98 career AHL games. “I wasn’t producing numbers like I was in junior, so I had to do something else to make myself stand out, whether it’s (penalty killing), sticking up for a teammate or throwing a big body check. The goals will come. It happened in junior, when the first couple years were slow and then it picked up. Hopefully in a little bit I’ll start finding the back of the net more, but until then I’ll do whatever the coach wants me to do or what the organization wants me to do to help the team win.”
“He’s battling like I am,” added Peter, who doesn’t travel to Virginia for many Norfolk home games but plans to attend the Admirals’ Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Night March 1.
“I’m battling (various) challenges. He’s battling a lot of challenges on the way to getting to the NHL. It’s quite the story for a middle-of-the-road guy and all the challenges they have to go through to make it. I’ve never seen a guy work so hard.”
