THUNDER BAY -- Two years ago Zach Whitlock was diagnosed with cancer.
This fall the Taymouth, N.B. forward will suit up with the Lakehead Thudnerwolves after graduating from junior and four seasons with the Woodstock Slammers of the Maritime Hockey League.
Whitlock missed most of the 2014-15 season while he battled Hodgkin’s lymphoma, coming back strong last season, recording 42 points in 47 games with the Slammers.
His most productive season came in 2013-14, when he scored 54 points in 52 gaes playing alsongside current Thunderwolves forwards Jake Wright and E.J. Faust.
He also spent time in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 2011 to 2013, collecting a pair of assists in 10 games split between Gatineau and Moncton.
Whitlock, 21, is thrilled with the decision to come to Thunder Bay.
“It was an easy decision for me to choose Lakehead University after all the good things I’ve heard about both the school and the hockey program,” he said. “I’m extremely excited about this and eager to arrive in Thunder Bay to start this new journey,” he said in a release issued on Tuesday by the Thunderwolves.
LU coach Bill McDonald said Whitlock should fit in well and serve a number of purposes with the Wolves.
“Zach is a gritty player who goes to the hard areas of the ice which creates more offensive chances, plus he has the will to win,” McDonald said. “What he’s done to get through a rough part of his life is simply amazing to me, and it shows the character and determination that he has. I can’t wait to have him here for training camp.”
