'There's a light at the end of the tunnel'
Alumnus Steven Jacques takes off the gloves in his battle with cancer
Editor’s note: Reporter Megan Youngblood had a pre-existing connection to Steven Jacques. In no way did this affect the reporting or writing of this story.
Hockey has always been a part of Central Michigan Alumnus Steven Jacques’s life.
“I’ve been watching the Red Wings since, literally, I was weeks, minutes, months old,” Jacques said. “I watched my dad buzz around in beer league. ... At around four or five I tried every sport ... and hockey is the one that really stuck.”
Now the former right winger has his sights set on a different type of goal--beating cancer. Jacques was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma earlier this year.
Where it all began
He began playing for the city of Royal Oak when he was 5, and played until his freshman year of high school when he moved on to Bishop Foley High School hockey.
Aside from playing, Jacques coached younger kids at his home rink in Royal Oak during high school.
After high school, Jacques thought his competitive hockey career was over and was only left playing in beer leagues at his local rink. But connecting with a new friend sparked the idea of not only his hockey career but his academic career as well.
“I was at Oakland Community College for my first two years,” Jacques said, “I got to know Michael Schwanke through my other friend and he (Schwanke) was playing at Central. ... I was kind of asking him about hockey and everything and how he liked it and if he saw a path.
“But in terms of academics, I got my degree in sport management and Central’s Sport Management Program is one of the best, so it was kind of a perfect storm.”
Packing up his belongings, Jacques moved two hours to CMU to study sport management and play competitive hockey once again on the Division II club hockey team before graduating in 2020.
Little did Jacques know that playing and coaching hockey would lead to an endless amount of support when he needed it most.
A different kind of battle
At the end of May 2023, Jacques was shaving one morning and felt a lump on the lymph node of his neck, sparking concern. After waiting a few days to see if it would go down or go away, Jacques decided it was time to see a doctor and figure out what was wrong.
After multiple scans and tests, it was revealed that the lump on his lymph node was Hodgkins Lymphoma, a disease in which cancer cells form in the lymphatic system.
“I went in and did a bunch of tests, and they were all kind of inconclusive,” Jacques said. “So, then they just decided to take it completely out and then when they did the tests after they took it, that’s when I got the diagnosis.”
Jacques was diagnosed and categorized as stage one. The prognosis was caught early enough that treatments were hopeful.
“It was pretty emotional, obviously,” Jacques said. “We caught it pretty early on, it was still late-stage one so nothing too serious in terms of cancer, but it was emotional and I had a lot going through my head. It was a tough day for sure.”
At first, Jacques wanted to go through everything on his own and had no plans of telling anyone outside of his family.
“If it were up to me, I would have done this entire thing and not told anyone,” Jacques said. “My family, like my mom, (has) been to pretty much at all my appointments or if I ever stayed in the hospital, my mom and my dad would be there.”
But when he started missing work and changing physically, people at his work started to notice.
Jacques’s colleagues at 4D Hockey Training in Madison Heights wanted to help. The goal was to give Jacques a break from work during his treatments, and thus a GoFundme was born.
“I was attempting to be business as usual,” Jacques said.. “.. The GoFundMe came out and let the cat out of the bag. I was working around my treatments, and then they set up the GoFundMe for me so that I can focus on getting better and not have to worry about bills.”
Soon after the fundraiser was created and posted, an influx of donations and support began to roll in.
Former players, coaches, friends and classmates began to flood Jacque’s phone with messages of support and donations.
“It was pretty crazy,” Jacques said. “A lot of my friends that I talked to pretty regularly (but) that I didn’t tell were commenting.
“But people that I hadn’t talked to since I graduated from Foley were messaging me. ... Parents of kids I coached ... even texted me or donated and that made me feel pretty good because I feel like they wouldn’t have donated if I didn’t make an impression on their kid.”
Fire up forever
Jacques’ story began to grow and made its way back to Mount Pleasant -- specifically Martin Ice Arena where he worked during his time at CMU.
Martin Ice Arena staff wanted to help Jacques with a fundraiser of their own, and with the help of the three club hockey teams on campus, another donation was made in Jacques’ honor.
“It was pretty incredible,” he said.
On Sept. 30, all three club hockey teams played at home and honored Jacques before their games. The Martin Ice Arena personnel hosted a bake sale and open skate, with all proceeds going towards Jacques and his treatment financial needs.
With the bake sale, open skate, and other donations on Saturday, just about $1,000 was raised, and so far, $14,135 has been raised as of Oct. 11, from the GoFundMe.
“The Central teams honoring kind of came out of nowhere,” Jacques said. “They didn’t ask if it was something I was interested in or anything, they just kind of did it.
“It’s kind of crazy that I haven’t gone there or played there for close to four years now, and them still thinking about me and wanting to do this for me, it was pretty cool.”
