Back on the Augustana bench, Chad Demers exhibits fight, resilience in battle with brain cancer

SIOUX FALLS — It’s a December morning at the Scheels IcePlex, and Chad Demers strolls across the empty lobby. Donning an Augustana beanie and a gray Vikings sweater, Demers wears the bravest face in the building, his usual smile, as he takes a seat on the bench just outside the rink where the Augustana hockey team had just wrapped up one of its mid week practices.

There are few words to describe how challenging the last several months have been for Demers. For the most part, things are back to normal for the 33 year old AU assistant coach, who’s doing his best to find normalcy amid atypical circumstances. “It feels right to be back,” Demers says. “When you’re away from the team, there’s just something missing.” ADVERTISEMENT What’s transpired over the last several months isn’t anything new for Demers.

In fact, it’s something he’s been dealing with for more than five years. In September 2018, Demers was diagnosed with Grade 4 astrocytoma, also known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a malignant primary brain tumor that has a five year survival rate of less than 7%. Augustana assistant coach Chad Demers passes the puck during practice Thursday, Sept.

14, 2023, in Sioux Falls. Trent Singer / The Rink Live After four and a half years of routine checkups, the cancer began spreading again in 2023, forcing Demers to undergo two more surgeries, the second of which came on Oct. 24 amid the first month of the Vikings’ inaugural season. Exactly one month later, Demers returned to the bench for Augustana’s home and home series against Nebraska Omaha, fulfilling a part of him that was missing during his hiatus.

Given the severity of his circumstances, Demers is forced to recognize time as an elusive construct, and the time between his diagnosis and now has added a new dimension to his outlook on life. The people in Demers’ life who are most important — his wife, Danika, and their three children, Beau, 5, Thea, 3, and Ella, 1 — have taken priority over everything.

Of course, there is also the game of hockey. It’s a sport he loves dearly and one that has led him to so many of his closest colleagues and friends throughout the years, people who have come to know Demers and have been inspired, in their own right, by his resilience in the face of cruel adversity.

It feels right to be back. When you’re away from the team, there’s just something missing. Chad Demers The prioritization of time and a relentless refusal to give in — these are things Demers remains determined to control with everything in his power as he continues his ongoing battle. “Obviously, and everybody realizes, I’ve got to take care of myself and my health first, but it still drives you crazy when you’re not doing your job,” Demers says.

“When things are completely out of my control, it’s just frustrating, especially when we’re just getting started and get things going pretty well, and then, it’s like, boom, you’re going to be gone for a month or whatever it was. It’s like you’re riding that wave a little bit, and you’ve got it going.

And now it’s like you’re just away from it. ADVERTISEMENT “I’m getting back in the swing of things, which has been good. It’s a lot better.” Chad Demers and the Grafton Park River Spoilers celebrate after Demers scored the game winning goal in their 3 2, triple overtime win over Grand Forks Red River in the 2008 NDHSAA state championship game Saturday, Feb.

23, 2008, in Grand Forks. Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald A student of the game Born and raised in Grafton, North Dakota, Demers first began playing hockey when he was 4 years old. In high school, he was a four year letterman in baseball and a three year letterman in football, but it was his two years on the ice that left the most indelible mark on what was to come.

As a junior in 2007 08, Demers racked up 57 points for a Grafton Park River team that won its fifth state championship in a three overtime thriller against defending state champion Grand Forks Red River. It was a game in which Demers provided the heroics with a winning tally just 1:47 into the decisive final period, lifting Grafton to a 3 2 victory.

Demers went on to play three seasons at the junior level with the Fargo Force, including a 2010 11 stint as team captain that saw him amass 50 points in 51 contests, and from there, he advanced to the college ranks, landing at the Air Force Academy, where he joined longtime coach Frank Serratore. Fargo's Chad Demers pressures Chicago Steel goalie Nick Pisellini during the Force's 4 1 win over the Steel on Friday, Nov.

6, 2009, at the Urban Plains Center in Fargo. David Samson / The Forum Now in his 27th season behind the bench at Air Force, Serratore has seen a number of players come and go throughout the years, but none have been quite as unique as Demers, whose ability to immerse himself in learning the game was practically unmatched.

“I don’t know if I ever really coached him,” says Serratore. “Some guys just have got a natural feel for the game, and Demmy was one of those players. Most players are simply players, but there are some players that are more than just players — they’re students of the game, and you can tell that they have the potential, if they so choose, to be coaches, and not just any coach but a good coach.

ADVERTISEMENT “Demmy was one of those players.” The list of names that have emerged from the Serratore coaching tree continues to grow. It includes the likes of Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley and Quinnipiac assistant coach Mike Corbett, both of whom were assistant coaches under Serratore in the early 2000s.

I don’t know if I ever really coached him. Some guys just have got a natural feel for the game, and Demmy was one of those players. Air Force coach Frank Serratore on Chad Demers There are also a number of former players who stood out during Serratore’s career that have gone on to do big things in hockey — Seattle Kraken coach Dave Hakstol played under Serratore’s tutelage during his college days at North Dakota, while Ken Martel was coached by Serratore in juniors and is now the senior director of player and coach development at USA Hockey.

And then there’s Demers, who was a double digit point getter in each of his four seasons at Air Force. His 126 career points are tied for 24th all time in the history of the program and the fifth most by any Falcon skater since the turn of the century. With an acceptance rate of just 11%, it’s no secret that receiving admittance into the Air Force Academy is highly competitive, but Demers’ excellence as a Falcon went above and beyond.

He was a two time academic all conference selection at Air Force, and his habits in the classroom bled into his mid week preparation on the ice, according to Serratore. Chad Demers racked up 126 career points during his four years at the Air Force Academy. Contributed / Air Force Athletics “When you’re in a video session or a lecture, he’s one of those guys that’s raising their hand and asking questions, or he’ll come into your office and ask you a question,” Serratore says.

“When he does, you better listen because he very well may have thought of something that you didn’t think of or ways to do something better. “He was smart. His brain was by far his greatest attribute. He was a good athlete, good hands, good skater, good all around, but he was a good player with a great brain.

He made all the players around him better. He just did, and as a result, he played in every key situation.” The initial diagnosis On Sept. 6, 2018, a little more than three years after graduating from the Air Force Academy, everything changed for Demers. ADVERTISEMENT At the time, Demers was an active duty officer stationed at the Grand Forks Air Force Base and was in the early stages of beginning his foray into coaching in the junior ranks.

He had accepted a position to become a volunteer coach for the Fargo Force of the USHL and was on the phone with then head coach Pierre Paul Lamoureux to go over some paperwork and complete a background check before he could take the ice with the team. “While I was on the phone with him, he said he was having a major migraine and a headache,” Lamoureux recalls.

“We get through the phone call and get everything sorted out, and we go out on the ice for practice. Chad was supposed to come the next day, and the next thing you know, we get off the ice and Cary [Eades] has a voicemail from Chad’s dad.” The voicemail was from Demers’ father, Guy, who had called to let them know his son was in the emergency room and wasn’t going to be able to attend practice the following day.

According to Valley News Live, Demers checked himself into an emergency room in Grand Forks after experiencing some debilitating cognitive issues. Then the 27 year old received a CT scan and, shortly thereafter, was told he had a brain tumor, which required emergency surgery. Despite the grim diagnosis, Demers was told he had an IDH mutant tumor, which provided a favorable prognosis that the cancer could remain dormant for longer than normal.

In the time since that diagnosis, Demers has gone through the gauntlet of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment. He carries with him a device known as the Optune Gio, which creates an electromagnetic field around his brain that prevents the spread of cancer cells, and he also recently began taking infusions of an immunotherapy drug called Keytruda.

“I do it every three weeks,” Demers says. “It’s basically an hour long infusion every three weeks, accompanied with blood work, meeting with the doctors just to make sure I’m good to go to receive the treatment. So far, that’s been going fine.” Since undergoing surgery in October, Demers says the biggest challenge was regaining his speech.

The part of his brain that is affected is known as the parietal lobe, which processes language and speech, so he began going to speech therapy twice a week and has come a long way in the time since his surgery in October. ADVERTISEMENT “When you have a brain injury, it affects your ability to communicate,” Demers says.

“It’s hard for anybody, and then especially when your profession is teaching and talking and presenting, that’s tough. Even just recruiting and being able to carry on conversations with people, it took some time to be able to do that. “I would say it’s not perfect yet, but I’m getting better.” Rising the ranks When Lamoureux was given the OK to add a full time assistant coach to his staff ahead of the Force’s 2019 20 season, there really wasn’t much of a decision to make.

“I didn’t really even consider anybody else. I wanted to hire Chad,” Lamoureux says. “It was a no brainer for me. I had a good relationship with him. He was a super bright, up and coming hard worker, and I didn’t even consider bringing anybody else on board. I knew I wanted to work with Chad just because of the type of person he is and his work ethic and his knowledge.

“You just set the medical stuff aside, he checks all the boxes that you want in a coach, and I think that’s why he’s gotten opportunities at higher levels — because of all those things. He’s the type of person you want your players around and you want your players to learn from.” Fargo Force coaches Chad Demers, Nick Oliver and Andrew Magera watch from the bench Friday, Dec.

30, 2022, at Scheels Arena in Fargo. Eli Swanson / The Rink Live Demers served as an assistant coach and director of scouting his first year with the Force before being promoted to associate head coach in 2020 21, during which Fargo claimed the Western Conference title before falling to the Chicago Steel 3 1 in a best of five series in the Clark Cup Championship.

“We had Chad working with our forwards, centers, wingers,” Lamoureux says. “He ran our power play for a good majority of the year, and then we also had Chad doing pre scouts. He basically had a piece in every part of our team systems. “He would do pre scouts, and then he would do video with our forwards.

He was heavily involved.” ADVERTISEMENT After a one year stint in 2021 22 as the director of hockey operations at Air Force, Demers returned to Fargo and rejoined the Force as an associate head coach for the 2022 23 season under the direction of first year coach Nick Oliver. The Force were crowned Anderson Cup champions and finished the regular season with their best record in team history, 40 14 4, but once again, they came up just short with a runner up finish in the Clark Cup Championship.

Fargo Force associate head coach Chad Demers holds the Anderson Cup as the team celebrates Friday, April 21, 2023, at Scheels Arena in Fargo. Rob Beer / The Rink Live Given his track record in the USHL, Demers was opened up to opportunities at the college level, one of which was in Sioux Falls with the upstart Vikings.

After the position opened up late this summer, Demers was named an assistant coach in early August, and the timing presented its own challenges for the family. Danika had just accepted a new teaching position in Moorhead, Minnesota, and his oldest son, Beau, was beginning kindergarten. Rather than force the family to uproot their lives before the start of the school year, they decided to push through it, which has forced Demers to travel back and forth between Sioux Falls and Moorhead.

Ultimately, the opportunity to join Augustana coach Garrett Raboin and his staff was too good to pass up, and it’s a decision Demers has found to be rewarding. “I wasn’t chasing college hockey because I was happy where I was at,” Demers says. “Lifestyle, family, everything — it was still a really good job in the USHL.

It would have taken something special to leave my job in Fargo to come here.” Augustana assistant coach Chad Demers runs a drill during practice at the Scheels IcePlex in Sioux Falls. Contributed / Augustana Athletics For Raboin, the decision to bring Demers into his program was also an easy one. “You can’t bring enough good people into your program.

Chad Demers was by far and away the most qualified guy in my eyes and the best fit for our program at the time,” Raboin says. “I couldn’t have been more excited about the choice that we made because we felt like we were getting a really good coach, and he’s been even better than advertised. “I think he brings it all.

He’s a developer of talent. In his role with us, he helps our power play. He helps our forwards on the offensive side of the game, but he’s won championships in the past working with defensemen. This is a developmental level, and I think he’s been able to develop these young athletes and help them to chase their dreams.

And ultimately, that’s what we’re trying to do.” A momentous return Ahead of their trip to take on Omaha in a home and home series last month, Vikings players were unaware of the surprise that was coming as they loaded equipment onto the team bus. A month after undergoing surgery, Demers casually approached the bus, catching the entire team off guard.

“That was exciting. That was a lot of fun,” Demers says. “The guys didn’t know. … They were packing their bags and were like, ‘Wait, hey! You’re back!’” Of course, the coaching staff was also ecstatic to have Demers return to the team, as they welcomed him back with open arms. Augustana assistant coach Chad Demers watches from the bench during a game against Alaska Fairbanks on Friday, Dec.

15, 2023, in Fairbanks, Alaska. Contributed / Leif Van Cise “It just makes me smile thinking about it because when he walked into our temp offices here after that hiatus, you couldn’t get out of your chair fast enough to go give the big guy a hug,” Vikings assistant coach Taylor Nelson says. “He just helps bring that positive environment back and an outlook and a different perspective on things.

“When it comes to hockey, he hits the ground running pretty quick. Enough with the charades, in his mind. It’s just back to work.” Before his surgery, Demers ensured the players he was going to return, a guarantee that left zero doubt he’d soon be back behind the bench. “We know he’s a fighter,” AU captain Arnaud Vachon says.

“He fought it once before, and two months later, he’s back on the bench and smiling as if nothing happened. That shows the courage and determination he has for the team. That’s a big reason the guys came here was the trust they had in the coaches.” It just makes me smile thinking about it because when he walked into our temp offices here after that hiatus, you couldn’t get out of your chair fast enough to go give the big guy a hug.

Augustana assistant coach Taylor Nelson It was during the national anthem prior to the start of AU’s Nov. 24 game at Baxter Arena that Demers began to truly soak in the moment. “I was just thinking, like, ‘How cool is this that we get to do this?’” Demers says. “I’ve said that before about being grateful, and it’s hard to be grateful sometimes when you’re dealt a hand like this.

It is, but in that moment, it was really cool. “I was very grateful just to be there with my guys.” A new perspective In the five years since his diagnosis, Demers has grounded himself in his new reality, allowing the perspective of his circumstances to reshape what takes precedence in his life.

His competitive nature aside, Demers maintains a healthy understanding of what is most important to him. “I have three young kids, and if I’m not coaching, I’m just hanging out with my kids,” Demers says. “I don’t really do much else. I work, and I’m just dad, playing around. I just try to be present at all times and spend time with my wife.

That’s about it. “It’s just the value of time. Sometimes you don’t feel like doing whatever. I don’t want to be doom and gloom, but if time is not on your side, you need to value that time. Yeah, I have a terminal illness, but you could be driving on the highway tomorrow. And you still don’t know.

I would say the biggest thing is just not taking time for granted.” Chad Demers poses for a photo with his wife, Danika, and their three children, Beau, 5, Thea, 3, and Ella, 1. Contributed photo Demers says the support he’s received from his immediate family has been “big time,” and from the players and coaches all the way up to the president’s office, the university’s support has been no different.

The excitement surrounding the first year program and its new home, Midco Arena, which is set to open next month, have given Demers plenty of reason to be excited, but the character of the people within the program has provided the most vindication in his decision to join Raboin’s staff. “Coming back to valuing time, you don’t want to spend your time with people you don’t want to work with, so that was a big, big kicker,” Demers says.

“I wanted to work with these guys every day. They’re good people, so yeah, I think I was lucky.” While Demers has received his fair share of support, his story will, and continues to be, an inspiration to so many more. It’s just the value of time. Sometimes you don’t feel like doing whatever.

I don’t want to be doom and gloom, but if time is not on your side, you need to value that time. Yeah, I have a terminal illness, but you could be driving on the highway tomorrow. And you still don’t know. I would say the biggest thing is just not taking time for granted. Chad Demers Raboin has been humbled by watching Demers live a selfless and passionate life.

He describes Demers as a hard working, family man and believes he embodies ideal character qualities in their quest to cultivate young leaders within the program. “As a staff, you have to model that, and when you can add someone like Chad, who lives it every day, and put him around our student athletes, I think it’s just a perfect fit,” says Raboin.

“You look at our group, not just this year but in future years and how you want them to look at the top, Chad’s a captain at the Air Force Academy. He’s as high level of a leader as I’ve been around, and that’s what it looks like.” While the past is bred in true permanence, there is no time but the present for Demers, whose story serves as a reminder of the precious qualities of life and how fleeting it can be.

Demers finds his true purpose in living boldly, doing what he loves and being surrounded by the people he loves the most. “For me, Chad’s nothing short of inspirational,” Lamoureux says. “To do what he’s willing to do to be the best coach he can be and then also be the best father, husband and family man that he can be as well, to me that’s nothing short of remarkable and an absolute inspiration.” Eva Unger, back, and Cameron Bye, two children battling cancer, drop the opening puck with Fargo's Chad Demers and Omaha's Michael Chiasson on Friday, February 4, 2011, at Scheels Arena in Fargo.

David Samson / The Forum While the battle continues for Demers, there is no quit in his fight. Pain is only temporary, and any feelings of despondence are sure to pass. It’s simply another adversarial blockade for the Grafton native, whose dreams of playing hockey have led him to becoming an inspirational leader of young men.

Perhaps becoming a coach was Demers’ destiny all along. “He got dealt a tough card, but his positive outlook on life and his determination as a fighter, what made him great as a player, is what I believe has enabled him to work to overcome this and continue to fight with it and deal with the adversity,” Serratore says.

“When he was here, to be honest with you, he never talked about it. … Every day he came in, his demeanor was the same. It was consistent. He was upbeat. “He was born to be a coach. There’s some guys that were born to be coaches, and Chad Demers is one of them.” Sign up for The Rink Live newsletter.

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The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags CCHA COLLEGE HOCKEY AUGUSTANA VIKINGS TRL NEWSLETTER By Trent Singer Trent Singer is a hockey and sports reporter for The Rink Live and Sioux Falls Live . He focuses his coverage on Augustana men's hockey, the CCHA and Sioux Falls area sports. Singer's previous stops include Just Women's Sports , the Southeast Missourian and the Kentucky New Era .

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