The one word that came out again and again was 'supportive.' They talked a lot about the support they're getting from the Americans who run this medical facility, the support they're getting from the Canadian military and from families back home.

The only reason I'm bringing my condition to your attention now is because the swelling of a lymph node near my left ear has become noticeable to viewers of TNT, and there have been questions asked. My plan is to work the rest of the NBA season and playoffs, go to the beach with my wife, Cheryl, and our four kids, and start a treatment regimen in late June, which will likely include chemotherapy. And then I'll go back to work.

The only reason these sorts of stories get the amount of coverage that they do in the first place is that everyone is rooting for a happy ending. People let their optimism for a good headline get in the way of the ... facts.

The only thing I can guarantee to our fans is that we are going to give an effort and try to play aggressive hockey for 60 minutes. I know our team is in better shape than it has been in the past because our testing shows that. One of my primary concerns after the season was that we have to be in better shape. We want to practice and do everything at a higher tempo. We're trying to change the whole culture here as what it takes to be successful.

The only thing I had on my mind was tennis, and sometimes girls, ... My life was all about tennis. My office was the whole world. The word home didn't really exist.