The plan was thrown off course, but that wasn’t going to faze Will Francis.
It began to take shape at the NHL draft last summer in Vancouver. Not every draft hopeful is sitting in the arena every year, but Francis was there with his family in the Rogers Arena seats. Unlike the glamour of the first night where every first-round draftee has his spotlight moment to soak up in front of a packed arena, the names are announced quickly on the second day, and the remaining rounds pass by. The anticipation is just the same. For the more anxious among us, it can even grow and intensify.
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On this Saturday afternoon in June, the 163rd name was about to be called as the Ducks’ draft pick. And this day would become memorable for one Minnesota boy.
“I was just sitting down and then you hear your name,” Francis said. “It all just hits you at once.
“At first, you’re just kind of nervous. And then as time goes on and you’re selected, there’s a whirlwind of emotions for sure. It’s something that I’ve worked for my entire life. Even if it probably wasn’t like a direct goal, it was definitely a huge achievement to accomplish.”
From there, the Ducks’ sixth-round pick did what draftees do. The following week was spent meeting more club officials at the team’s development camp and getting his first taste of what it’s like to be part of an NHL organization. In this instance, Francis was among the group of prospects that took in everything the franchise’s sparkling new practice facility in Irvine had to offer. “I had a great week out there in Anaheim,” he said. “Honestly, top to bottom, everything was phenomenal.”
And then it was standard procedure as to the progression of a hockey career. Francis continued his training over the rest of the summer at his home outside Minneapolis before preparing for his second season with the USHL’s Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. He turned 19 in November and was looking to build on a promising year in the States’ top junior league. Already a naturally big kid at 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, Francis had visions of playing for the University of Minnesota-Duluth this fall after committing to play there last October.
It was also in November when his season came to a sudden end.
“I was in practice literally just working on PP1 with one of my coaches,” said Francis, referring to the RoughRiders’ top power-play unit. “After practice, the ice is not in the best shape. One of my edges in my blade kind of caught a groove in the ice weird. And then when I was twisting and taking a one-timer, I just happened to have my meniscus slip into my (left) knee joint there and pull on me.
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“It happened in practice, which just sounds silly. But we kind of later came to find out that the doctor after surgery mentioned how clean the cut was and that he thought it had been torn for some time and I’ve just been playing with it for the last couple of seasons without any pain or anything. Which is kind of uniquely surprising.”
Four to six months was the given recovery time. It was an obstacle, but nothing Francis couldn’t handle. He kept moving forward with his career even if he couldn’t play. He had moved to Duluth and started attending classes at UMD. While he got around on crutches for six weeks, he continued to work on his upper body as he rehabbed his left knee. The focus moved to his lower half once he shed the crutches and his knee was stable enough to take physical training. His spirits were high.
“I was just building myself up for next year.” Francis said. “I was feeling good.”
If only that was the one obstacle to handle.
Something wasn’t right. He could feel it.
Even though he was pushing himself, Francis suddenly felt as if he wasn’t improving and still out of shape. The answer to him was doing more.
“I was trying to do a lot of extra conditioning,” he said. “Just get that up. I just felt like I’ve been off my feet for a bit. It’ll come back. No problem. And, so, I was doing all the extra work.
“At that same time a month ago, I had a really bad sore throat. Went in to the doctor. Got a strep test. Nothing. It got worse over a week and I went back in. I got treated for tonsillitis. Took antibiotics and the sore throat went away. But I was still feeling fatigued pretty often. Just not my normal appetite. I was thinking it’s maybe the antibiotics doing this thing on me. The throat’s getting better but just a little tired. No big deal. I’ll get some extra sleep from it.
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“As time went on, more and more things progressed. I was having blurry vision here and there and I’d sit down for a few minutes. It would come back, and I’d be ready to go. Never really had any problems with fever. Had some night sweats here and there but it wasn’t really concerning to me. And I guess the last straw was when I was up north in my cabin with my family.”
While vacationing on Lake Superior’s north shore, Francis realized that he wasn’t feeling any better after sleeping throughout one day. Fatigue persisted. Bloody noses began to occur. On March 13, he went with his father, Jeff, and drove 20 minutes away to a hospital in Grand Marais.
A blood test was taken. A diagnosis they never imagined was given.
“Had my tests up there and I got the news that they thought it was leukemia,” Francis said. “And I was rushed in an ambulance from Grand Marais to the hospital down in Minneapolis.”
CaringBridge is a Minnesota-based nonprofit social network portal that connects people facing different medical conditions with family and friends. On their son’s journal page, the Francis family detailed how Will’s white blood cell count reached 178,000 per microliter in number. Normal amounts for teenagers typically range from 5,000 to 10,000.
Doctors at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital then told him it was B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, an aggressive type of blood cancer where immature white blood cells grow within bone marrow and crowd out the more mature cells. Infections can occur more easily and become harder to fight. It is not known to contain a genetic element and, to Francis, that is in line with the lack of a definitive link between cancer and his family. He said the only relative he knew who fought any type of cancer is his grandfather, who had lymphoma.
In that sense, the diagnosis was that much tougher to comprehend. This was far beyond an illness that was tougher to shake.
“We didn’t really think anything until the news came,” Francis said. “I kind of just felt the same way for three weeks prior to that and I thought I was just battling a bad cold. We had no idea.”
The human body is magnificent and mysterious. It is never more so when a disease strikes someone who is the picture of health.
One of the biggest players on the Cedar Rapids roster embodied physical play. Francis racked up a team-leading 131 penalty minutes for the RoughRiders over 59 games in 2018-19. The family jokingly alluded to him literally having a fighting spirit in their journal post. Playing against him wasn’t going to be friendly.
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“I think he’s a tough customer for sure,” said Mark Carlson, Cedar Rapids’ longtime coach. “He’s a big, strong guy and plays with an edge.”
Being tough to play against is a well-worn hockey axiom. Francis wanted to make sure he’d been known by that element. He had the size and he was going to use it to his advantage.
“There’s no friends out there for sure,” he said. “Regardless if you take penalties or not, just having a certain demeanor and tone with the way you play. Put a little fear into a team. Yeah, I had some penalty minutes last year. Sort of in the same direction (this year) but not as much. Maybe get a little smarter and pick and choose your spots. But I definitely don’t want anyone to think that if they’re going to go into a corner with me that they’re going to stand a chance.”
The plan for this season was to expand his game. Francis was seeing more opportunities to explore his offensive side. Carlson wanted him to develop further in that area. He was getting looks on the power play. The knee injury halted that development as he was limited to just 10 contests.
“I think it’s a natural progression with players sometimes,” Carlson said. “Our league’s very competitive and challenging in that first year. We saw him as a main guy, one of the top players this year for us for sure.
“He’s a big, rugged, strong defenseman that’s got a real nice skill level. Loves the game and plays hard. He’s going to round into a heck of a hockey player here moving forward.”
Growing up near the city, Francis initially had visions of attending school near home. It was easy to think that way. The University of Minnesota is right near downtown Minneapolis. The flagship university in the state’s system also has a rich athletic tradition, including a storied men’s hockey program that’s won five NCAA championships. It is a logical destination for those who live close.
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“That was the best thing in the world around here,” Francis said.
Except Francis broadened his scope. Up in Duluth was a program that has been churning out talented players under head coach Scott Sandelin. Defensemen have been matriculating to the NHL in recent years. Winnipeg’s Neal Pionk and Minnesota’s Carson Soucy are key players on their teams. Mikey Anderson made his debut with the Kings before the worldwide coronavirus pandemic forced a shutdown of league action in the second week of March. St. Louis prospect Scott Perunovich could appear on the Blues’ blue line in the coming years.
It didn’t hurt that UMD won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2017-18 and 2018-19. The college decision for Francis was a simple one.
“I think Duluth has the best coaching staff in NCAA,” he said. “They obviously have the resume here these last few years to show for it. It’s close enough to home where my parents would be able to come to the games. It’s not going to be too much of a drag to go up that way. And I also have the cabin up that way too, so we’re pretty familiar with the area.
“Obviously, a great place to play hockey. They love their hockey up there. It was pretty easy for me once the recruiting trail started.”
His world is different now. The world around him has changed. There is fighting against a disease within him and staying protected from a virus outside that has local and national health officials imploring people to either stay indoors or use facial protection in the times they venture out.
Francis has a compromised immune system, which adds to the concern as COVID-19 has shown to be particularly damaging to those already dealing with existing health issues. He has put a stationary bike to use at his Shoreview home. He’ll take quick strolls outside. But the only extended periods of time spent away are the twice-weekly trips into Minneapolis for chemotherapy treatments, which began three days after the diagnosis. The drives into town are eerie. “All the roads are empty,” he said. “It’s just been a little bit of a ghost town up here.”
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This is just a fact of his life now. As is leukemia. There is zero sense of someone who is feeling sorry for himself or his situation. Yes, it is another obstacle. Now the focus is on getting past this.
His team in Cedar Rapids has rallied around him.
“We both have the same approach and I think our entire team has the same approach,” Carlson said. “It’s tough news, but right away Will (was) putting it behind him and all of us putting that behind us — just will leading the way. Being positive. That he’s going to attack this thing and get through it. And all of his teammates and staff. Same approach.”
Carlson said “positive vibes” have been sent from around the country to a teammate that is loved within their locker room. That positivity has formed an element of certainty in Francis’ mind. He committed to Minnesota-Duluth and he is going to play for the Bulldogs. It isn’t going to be this fall. But he is set on playing when the 2021-22 season arrives.
“I guess they kind of said that the first six to eight months are going to be tough,” Francis said. “I’m not going to do much. After that, I’ll still be (20) years old. I have a young body. I’ll be able to get back to playing the game that I love.”
Many have indeed checked in on him. Carlson, of course. Sandelin and UMD assistant coaches Jason Herter and Adam Krause have touched base. They’re far from the only ones.
Francis’ story has touched parts of the hockey community. The Ducks have sent along videos of support from Ryan Getzlaf, Josh Manson, Scott Niedermayer and coach Dallas Eakins. Todd Marchant, the club’s director of player development, calls. Former NHL defenseman Tom Kurvers, a Duluth alum, reached out. Now an executive with the Minnesota Wild, Kurvers is also a cancer survivor.
“I heard about Will’s diagnosis (recently) and many of us felt like we should reach out,” Manson said. “I heard he’s a tough young man, which will serve him well. He’s got the entire Ducks organization and the NHL behind him.”
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But it has also touched Hall of Famers. Guy Lafleur has called him. So has Bobby Clarke. And then came one that left an indelible imprint.
“Yeah, I was lying in bed, I got a call from a number that I obviously didn’t have. So, I was like, ‘OK. Hey, this is Will.’ And he goes, ‘Hey Will, it’s Bobby Orr.’ I’m like, ‘Bobby Orr. The greatest defenseman to play hockey.’ He goes, ‘Well, ha, ha, ha,’” Francis said. “The whole time, he asked me how things were going. It was just truly amazing.”
Carlson said the support from friends and teammates has been as important as that from hockey heroes. He feels it has helped keep Francis upbeat and given added motivation to someone who had no problem summoning inner drive.
“It really has just shown me how the hockey world is like nothing else in this world,” Francis said. “How tight-knit it is. The bond between people and how close they can come together and rally around one of their own. It’s really humbling.”
There is another thing that is therapeutic. Talking about it.
The high rate of remission from B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia has provided comfort for him. He knows this battle not only impacts his parents but his 16-year-old sister, Summer, and 10-year-old brother, Luke. But his attitude has set an example his family is following. This is just a new opponent to go up against.
“I’m going to put my head down and battle this thing as hard as I can and beat it,” Francis said. “That’s kind of just the way we look at it.”
Editor’s note: In an updated journal post on Thursday, Francis’s mother, Heather, indicated that Will was dealing with fever and infection that has required a stay in the hospital. She reported that he had his scheduled chemo session and is dealing with the side effects. But his appetite had also returned. “He was eating again, and had even ordered crab legs from Door Dash on Tuesday night, which made him the talk of the oncology unit,” Heather wrote. On Monday, Francis texted The Athletic, “Doing really good. Had a couple infections but got treated correctly and quickly!”
(Photo of Will Francis: Kevin Light / Getty Images)
