Finnie honors mom’s battle with stick tribute on Red Wings’ Hockey Fights Cancer Night

DETROIT -- When the Detroit Red Wings host their Hockey Fights Cancer Night on Thursday, rookie forward Emmitt Finnie will draw a cancer ribbon on top of the knob of his stick.

The 20-year-old has been doing it since junior in support of his mother, Shannon, who overcame breast cancer at first and has had liver cancer for the past three years.

She is doing well in treatment and will be watching from home in Langley, British Columbia, as the Red Wings play the New York Islanders at Little Caesars Arena (7 p.m. ET; FDSNDET, MSGSN2).

“She’s going to keep fighting and hopefully get cancer-free here soon,” Emmitt said. “She’s been my biggest supporter my whole career, and I wouldn’t be here without her. I just want to make her proud.”

Oh, she’s proud. The whole family is.

“So proud of him,” Shannon said. “He’s put in a lot of hard work, and it hasn’t always been the easiest path. He grew late, so for us, it’s just … He’s really focused and dedicated. Yeah, we’re very proud.”

Emmitt has made a remarkable rise to the NHL while his mother has been fighting cancer.

Shannon received a breast cancer diagnosis in April 2019 and had a lumpectomy that August.

Emmitt was listed at 5-foot-3, 110 pounds when Kamloops took him in the fourth round (No. 82) of the 2020 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft. In 2021-22, his first season in junior, he had no goals and six assists in 48 games. But he kept working on and off the ice, growing his game and body.

In November 2022, shortly after she was supposed to be cancer-free, Shannon learned the cancer had metastasized to her liver.

“That was a tough call to have with her,” Emmitt said. “That was a tough time for me and my family, just me being away from home and not getting to see her and stuff. Having that uncertainty was definitely hard.”

When Shannon went through chemotherapy the first time, Emmitt surprised her by shaving his head in solidarity. She shared a picture of him from Feb. 6, 2023.

“I had told him, ‘You know, you don’t have to do that,’” she said. “And he ended up doing it himself. At the time, he had quite long hair. It was a drastic change. But he’s always been very supportive.”

Emmitt finished the 2022-23 season with 35 points (nine goals, 26 assists) in 64 games for Kamloops, and he was listed at 6-0, 163 pounds when the Red Wings selected him in the seventh round (No. 201) of the 2023 NHL Draft.

He had 59 points (19 goals, 40 assists) in 62 games for Kamloops in 2023-24, then 84 points (37 goals, 47 assists) in 55 games last season.

After impressing the Red Wings in training camp, Emmitt, now listed at 6-1, 195, made the NHL roster to open this season.

“We weren’t expecting it coming into the year,” Shannon said. “We thought he would probably end up [with Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League], so for him to make his NHL debut was really exciting for everybody in the family.”

Shannon is on a chemotherapy drug and hasn’t been able to work in her job as a schoolteacher. But she was able to travel for Emmitt’s NHL debut, a 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Detroit on Oct. 9, and his third NHL game, a 3-2 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 13. Emmitt said she'll be able to come on the Red Wings’ mothers’ trip next month.

“I think when you get diagnosed with something like cancer, it puts things into perspective,” Shannon said. “So, you celebrate the milestones maybe a little bit more, and you’re more appreciative of things like that.”

Shannon and her husband, Cheyno, try to watch all of their kids’ games. Their son Marshall is a 21-year-old forward for Niagara University. Their daughter, Payton, is a 17-year-old forward for Delta Hockey Academy. On Tuesday, they used two TVs so they could watch Marshall and Emmitt at the same time.

Emmitt scored in a 4-2 win against the Seattle Kraken. Afterward, he called home, as he tries to do every day. With nine points (five goals, four assists) in 20 games, he is tied for fifth in goals, is tied for 10th in assists and ranks 10th in points among NHL rookies.

He has the stick he used to score his first NHL goal, plus the pucks from his first NHL goal and first NHL point, and he’s thinking of his mother.

“When I see her next,” he said, “those will be going to her and my family.”

Hockey Fights Cancer is in its 27th season. The goal is to unite the hockey community through storytelling and meaningful events; to fundraise for cancer research; and to educate and empower fans to learn about cancer risk factors and take action to get screened.

“There’s lots of families who are going through the same thing mine is,” Emmitt said. “It’s great that the League recognizes that and makes such a special event out of it.”

Shannon said her family didn’t have a history of breast cancer, and she didn’t realize how many women and their families are affected. She hopes this story and Hockey Fights Cancer Night will help others.

“It’s great the work that the NHL is doing to promote cancer awareness,” she said. “I’m just appreciative of all the support that I’ve been given.”