In May of 2023, Ducks goaltending coach Sudarshan Maharaj was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given a roughly one in five chance of survival.
In May of 2024, the man affectionately known as “Sudsie” had been declared cancer-free.
“It’s been an emotional year for my family and me, culminating with the incredible news that I am cancer free,” Maharaj said, in a press release from the Ducks. “There are so many people for me to thank – starting with Henry, Susan and Jillian Samueli, Aaron Teats, Pat Verbeek and the entire Ducks organization. The support I received from around the league is beyond words. The hockey world is an incredible place.”
His wife Yvonne as well as their daughters Alexandra and Katherine were foremost among people Maharaj recognized, and he also acknowledged the courageous fight against cancer of another Ducks coach, former assistant Mike Stothers, who has battled melanoma of the lymph nodes since March of last year.
At one point, Maharaj had asked Ducks goalie John Gibson to be one of the pallbearers at his funeral. Yet when the Ducks last took the ice at Honda Center, the two shared a warm embrace with Mararaj having advanced far down the road of remission.
Maharaj’s late-season appearances shined a beacon of light through a mostly dim season of fledgling promise derailed by injuries and defeats. But no victory was greater than that of their beloved goalie guru over such a nefarious disease.
To beat it, Maharaj endured 11 rounds of chemotherapy, as well as surgical procedures that removed his gallbladder as well as portions of his stomach, pancreas and intestines.
Maharaj was no stranger to adversity, steep odds and unconventional paths. The native of Trinidad fell in love with hockey in Canada and played professionally in Sweden.
As detailed by independent journalist Tal Pinchevsky, Maharaj was victimized by a Swedish gang that firebombed his car and attempted to further intimidate him, actions that Maharaj, who is of Indian descent, firmly believed were racially motivated.
Undeterred, when his six-year swing in Sweden concluded, Maharaj returned to Toronto and began a career working with at-risk youth.
He soon returned to York University, where he’d won a Canadian national title minding the Lions’ net, to begin a coaching career that led him to work privately with a handful of pro goalies and ultimately led him to the NHL level.
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Now, he has taken on two new facets of his identity: that of a cancer survivor and another of a cancer advocate.
He and Stothers had the honor bestowed upon them by the NHL to receive and donate a $25,000 grant to non-profit organizations in Orange County as part of the 25th anniversary of the league’s Hockey Fights Cancer initiative.
“My good friend and fellow coach Mike Stothers, who is also winning his fight against cancer, reminded us all after his diagnosis that we should listen to our body and see a doctor if something feels off,” Maharaj said. “I did just that, and I’m alive today as a direct result. Thank you, Mike, and thank you all!”
Ring that bell, Sudsie!
Ducks goaltending coach Sudarshan Maharaj is cancer free! pic.twitter.com/qi35dAglgm
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) May 6, 2024