Minnesota Wild assistant general manager Tom Kurvers died Monday morning after a two and a half year battle with lung cancer, the franchise announced.
He was 58.
“The Minnesota Wild organization is heartbroken to announce that Tom Kurvers passed away this morning after a courageous battle with lung cancer,” the Wild said in a statement. “We extend our deepest sympathies and prayers to Tom’s family and loved ones, including his wife, Heather, daughters, Madison and Rose, and sons, Weston and Roman.
“From Minnesota high school standout to Hobey Baker Award winner and Stanley Cup champion, Tom’s passion for and success in hockey could only be surpassed by the love and optimism he shared with his family and friends each and every day. Tom’s kindness and enthusiasm will be greatly missed by the countless number of people on whom he had a positive influence throughout his life. We join the State of Hockey in mourning the loss of a great hockey player and an even better person. Rest in peace TK.”
Kurvers played 11 seasons in the NHL after the Montreal Canadiens selected him with the No. 145 pick in the seventh round of the 1981 NHL Draft. He scored 421 points (93 goals ad 328 assists) in 659 career games for the Canadiens, the Anaheim Ducks, New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres.
When the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in the 1986 season, Kurvers scored 30 points (seven goals, 23 assists) in 62 games that season.
Kurvers got his start in an NHL front office as a pro scout for the Phoenix Coyotes before he became their director of player personnel in 2005. He later went on to become the assistant general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2008-11, though he held the general manager role on an interim basis in the 2009-10 season.
The Wild hired Kurvers in July 2018.
Kurvers was diagnosed with lung cancer in January 2019, despite not being a smoker, according to the Wild’s official website. In 2019, he ran in the A Breath of Hope Lung Run/Walk Twin Cities 10K and also worked with the A Breath of Hope Lung Foundation to help spread awareness about the condition.
“There’s a community of people who are in the same battle, and it’s really tied together by the A Breath of Hope Foundation,” Kurvers said August 2020, according to the Wild’s website. They do as much as they can to help foster that community. It really is a tight-knit group of people doing extraordinary work and I’m proud to be connected to them and to help them, because they helped me.
“The fundraising efforts have a chance to save my life and so many others, so it’s important to me and important to my family.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Minnesota Wild assistant GM Tom Kurvers dies of lung cancer