My Toughest Faceoff: My Life in Hockey and My Battle with Parkinson's Disease

Name: My Toughest Faceoff: My Life in Hockey and My Battle with Parkinson's Disease
Author: Brent Peterson
ISBN: 9781482652383

by Brent Peterson

ISBN: 9781482652383

Description

After being a first-round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 1974, Brent Peterson embarked on a successful National Hockey League playing career that lasted 11 seasons. During his career, he played for Detroit, the B... After being a first-round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 1974, Brent Peterson embarked on a successful National Hockey League playing career that lasted 11 seasons. During his career, he played for Detroit, the Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, and Hartford Whalers. When he retired as a player, Brent immediately became an assistant coach with the Whalers before moving back to Portland, Oregon to become the head coach of the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League. After leading Portland to the Memorial Cup championship in 1998, Brent wanted to pursue his dream of becoming a head coach in the NHL, so he left Portland and took an assistant coaching position with the expansion Nashville Predators. Brent was later promoted to the position of associate head coach. Soon after that promotion, things took a turn when Brent was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a degenerative neurological disorder for which there is no known cure. For a year Brent and his wife Tami kept Brent's diagnosis a secret, even going so far as to borrow the money needed for medications so that they did not have to use Brent's insurance out of fear that the Predators would find out about his condition. When Brent's symptoms became more obvious to the people who were around him every day, he and Tami made the decision to go public with the information that would likely end any chances of a team hiring him to be their head coach. Brent made the news public first by telling the Predators following their elimination from the playoffs in 2004. The team rallied around the affable coach they call Petey. In addition to keeping his position as Nashville's associate head coach, Brent established the Peterson for Parkinson's Foundation in hopes of raising awareness and funding for research. Away from the ice, Brent received some counseling from Michael J. Fox, one of Parkinson's most visible faces. It was that same advice that Brent turned around and gave to former NBA star Brian Grant afte

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