Pierre McGuire, 56, was diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer in September
NBC hockey analyst Pierre McGuire revealed he was diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer during a yearly physical in September.
The announcement was made on Wednesday night before NBC Sports Network’s ‘Wednesday Night Rivalry’ game between the Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks.
He worked the Blackhawks-New York Rangers game on January 3 and then had surgery to remove the cancerous tumor the next morning.
‘I had no symptoms at all,’ McGuire, 56, told USA TODAY Sports. ‘If I wouldn’t have had a physical, I would have kept going and I never would have known, because nothing was bothering me.’
McGuire is not expected to need chemotherapy, and will return to work at NBC next month in time for the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
He pushed to have the surgery so quickly in order to be ready for Olympic coverage.
McGuire remembered Pat Burns, an NHL Hall of Fame coach who passed away in 2010 from colon cancer, urging the hockey community to schedule regular colonoscopies.
Now he will do the same for prostate exams.
McGuire is not expected to need chemotherapy and will return to NBC next month for the Olympics in South Korea. Pictured January 1 prior to the Winter Classic between the New York Rangers and the Buffalo Sabres
‘I feel fine. I feel great,’ McGuire said. ‘I’m walking 3.5 miles every day. Can’t do much else because of the sutures.’
‘I’m back doing radio and I’m watching games every night,’ McGuire said. ‘I can’t travel right now. That’s what is holding me back.’
McGuire played hockey in college before he became a coach. He was an assistant in the NHL before he became the head coach of the Whalers for part of the 1993-94 season.
He pushed to have the surgery so quickly in order to be ready for Olympic coverage. Pictured May 19 with Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators
McGuire joined TSN as its lead hockey analyst in 2002 before leaving for NBC full time in 2011
He joined TSN as its lead hockey analyst in 2002 before leaving for NBC full time in 2011.
His diagnosis comes five months after fellow NBC analyst Ed Olczyk wad diagnosed with colon cancer.
‘I’m so grateful to the NBC hockey family. NBC (people) have been phenomenal’ McGuire said.
McGuire said Olczyk told him, ‘You got to fight and stay positive and I said, “I agree.”
NHL Hall of Fame coach Pat Burns passed away in 2010 after a five year battle with colon cancer