Only three years removed from national title, Providence College hockey grieves for two of its own

It might sound strange at first, but Noel Acciari is truly thankful he broke his finger during the first game of last season. If the Bruins forward hadn’t blocked a shot and suffered the injury, he wouldn’t have had the chance to visit his best friend, Drew Brown, one last time.

Acciari and Brown became close while playing hockey at the Kent School in Connecticut, high school kids just trying to figure it all out. Their bond grew stronger as roommates and teammates at Providence College, where they were both on the squad that won the NCAA championship in 2015.

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Barely three years after they lifted the championship trophy, that beloved team has now buried two of the players who helped bring the school its first national title.

So with Acciari’s finger splinted and wrapped, on Oct. 30, 2017, he and Providence College coach Nate Leaman took an early-morning flight to Michigan to see Brown, who was battling bone cancer.

The timing was difficult. Brown had learned just days before that the cancer had spread to his brain. Brown’s condition had deteriorated to the point that doctors had to cut his head open to remove a tumor putting pressure on his frontal lobes, affecting his ability to communicate.

Brown had always been a strong-willed person, but after the surgery he didn’t want many visitors.

That didn’t apply to Acciari and Leaman.

“Once Noel and Nate came out, Drew didn’t want them to leave,” said Sandy Brown, Drew’s mom.

It was the last time Acciari and Brown would see each other. Brown passed away Nov. 11, 2017. He was 25.

Mark Adams, better known as Roo to his family and friends, wrote Mandarin all over the dry-erase board in his office. He was teaching himself the language because the pharmaceutical company he worked for wanted him to travel to China. Most days he was in his office as early as 4 a.m. for a conference call with the group from China.

Sept. 17 was another one of those early days — Adams in the office again, working away — when he suffered a heart attack and passed away. He was 27.

During the autopsy, it was discovered that Adams had a “heavy heart”: His heart was 660 milligrams when it should have been 400, said his father, Mark.

“Sad but true, he had early congestive heart failure,” explained Mark Adams Sr. “It sucks. It’s mind-boggling to think about a kid that age, a great athlete and a great kid. But (that disease) is out there and it bites kids more than you think.”

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Adams had always wanted to go to Providence. While he was still a teenager, playing for the Chicago Steel of the USHL, there were 10 schools that were recruiting him for hockey.

“He was hell-bent on going to Providence from Day 1,” explained his dad. “That’s where he wanted to go.”

The Buffalo Sabres drafted Adams, a native of Boxboro, Mass., in the fifth round (134th overall) in 2009. He played in 98 games for the Friars from 2010-15, and his career there culminated in him skating around the TD Garden ice in Boston with the trophy after beating Boston University in the national title game.

“It was amazing,” said Mark Adams Sr. “It was such a special group of kids and how they all got along so well. The culture they had there, in regards to how they all pulled the same wagon. It was always positive. That national championship team was as special as you could possibly get, but it was the relationships and being part of that community is what the kids really cherished.”

After graduation, Adams signed a contract with the Los Angeles Kings and was set to play for their AHL affiliate in Manchester, N.H. Then during training camp, he suffered a blood clot and was admitted to the hospital. Doctors told him if he continued to play and suffered a cut, it was possible he could bleed out. So, Adams was forced to retire from the game he loved.

“He was very upset about that, obviously,” his father said. “But, I thought he adjusted well.”

Adams went to work for a hedge fund company in New York. He enjoyed his time in the city, but he missed Boston and decided to move back. He landed a position with Merrill Lynch and worked there until the company his father works for, Cambridge Therapeutic, expanded, and Adams was offered a position running the pharmaceutical division.

“He did a great job for us,” said Mark Adams Sr. “He was very good at sourcing stuff, networking and building relationships. People liked him and trusted him. He was very mature for his age. It was nice, as a dad, to watch that development. He’s 10 times smarter than I’ll ever be.”

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On Nov. 30, Providence College will honor him with “Mark Adams Night” at Schneider Arena. The Most Outstanding Teammate Award, given annually by the players, will be renamed in Adams’ honor.

The image of both Adams and Brown hoisting the championship trophy over their heads on April 11, 2015, on the TD Garden ice will forever be etched in Friars hockey history. Adams played in all four games of the national championship run. Brown was sidelined, his cancer in remission, but he was still able to celebrate alongside his teammates as a student assistant coach.

Winning the national championship was not the greatest accomplishment of the 2015 Providence College men’s hockey team. A total of six players from that team turned pro, including three currently playing in the NHL. Others have found success in careers away from the ice. Life is continuing, with many of the players getting married.

But the way the group has come together to deal with the tragedies of losing two former teammates less than a year apart is what defines them, above and apart from their championship exploits.

“It’s brought us closer together as a group,” Acciari said.

Providence athletic director Bob Driscoll said the good times and the bad have created a special bond among that 2015 team, forging a group that loves each other as brothers.

“We lose two teammates from that championship team and it’s unprecedented,” he said. “It sends a strong message to our young people that life is short and you’ve got to make the most of it.”

Mark Jankowski, a key member of that Providence team, now plays for the Calgary Flames. Acciari and the Bruins recently played Jankowski and the Flames in Calgary, and the former teammates reconnected after the game to remember their late friends.

“It’s tough,” Jankowski said. “Drew was a great guy. He was my roommate for a year in Providence, and when he was battling cancer our whole team was with him. He got in remission and we were all pumped. Then to hear that bad news, it was really tough to hear.”

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Adams, he said, came as more of a shock.

“Roo’s kind of came out of nowhere. No one had any idea anything was wrong. A bunch of the guys actually saw him a week or two before at the PC golf outing. They said he was doing great, joking around like normal, so it was so tough to hear.”

Acciari and Jankowski were among many in the Providence family to attend the services for Brown. Acciari also attended the celebration of life for Adams, and since Jankowski wasn’t able to attend, his father represented his family.

“It’s tough any time one of your good buddies (passes), never mind two of them,” Jankowski said. “They were both big parts of the national championship team. Hopefully that’s one of the things that people remember them by. They were both great teammates, great guys to be around. They were both ‘one of the boys’ and it’s now tough, knowing you won’t be able to see them again. Hopefully people remember all the good things, and the national championship is definitely one of them.”

The families of both young men have struggled to deal with the pain of losing them. But being a part of the larger Providence family has helped them get through it, both said.

“It’s been amazing. PC was unbelievable how they handled it,” Mark Adams Sr. said. “There are a lot of good people in that community.”

Sandy Brown gets emotional when thinking about the past and present support her family has received since Drew was first diagnosed in 2014.

“Phenomenal,” she said, fighting back tears. “People we didn’t even know, and people we met, have been so supportive in many ways, thinking of us and sending us cards and showing their support wherever they could, even when Drew was sick. The outreach was just amazing.”

Since Brown, a native of Grass Lake, Mich., lived away from home during high school and college, the Acciaris became his second family. Noel’s mom, Edna, would host holidays, and if the boys didn’t have a game, both Noel and Drew would spend the day in Johnston, R.I.

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When Brown was diagnosed, everyone rallied around him to help.

“They did whatever they could for Drew and the family,” Sandy Brown said. “It was very inspirational. It just warmed our hearts and we really felt the love from everyone out there. It was very humbling and very helpful to our family; what a great feeling it is to have that around you and to help you through that tough time.”

During the 2015-16 season, Brown became an undergraduate student assistant coach. He couldn’t play anymore, but before the team’s final practice at TD Garden prior to winning the national championship, Brown laced up his skates one more time and joined his teammates on the ice.

“Drew inspired them and they inspired Drew,” Sandy Brown said. “They were all amazed. The video of that is so touching, because they all couldn’t believe he got his skates on and was on the ice for four or five minutes. He couldn’t do a lot. He couldn’t skate but he was out there with them.”

It was a healing moment for everyone to see Brown smiling, laughing and enjoying being back on the ice.

“What a memory that is,” said Sandy Brown.

This summer was bittersweet for Acciari and Derek Army, another former teammate and close friend of Brown.

On June 30, Army married his longtime girlfriend, Jenn. Only two weeks later on July 14, Acciari married his fiancee, Kate. There was an empty seat at both weddings reserved for Brown, who had been scheduled to marry his own longtime girlfriend, Michelle Danko, on June 16.

It was fitting that Michelle attended both weddings.

“You want to have Drew there and the people he cared most about, so it was a no-brainer having Michelle at ours, and it was awesome to reconnect with her,” Army said. “We didn’t get to spend that much time with her at our wedding, but when we went to Noel’s we were able to hang with her and Drew’s sister. It was nice.”

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At Acciari’s wedding, Noel and Kate made sure Brown’s life and friendship were highlighted during the ceremony.

“We were able to appreciate friends who would’ve been there but unfortunately weren’t. For both Noel and I, it was great to have Michelle there. You almost felt like Drew was there because she’s so similar to Drew and she’s a great person. In some ways it felt like he was there,” Army said. “It brought everyone a little bit closer and you learn to cherish each other a little bit more with the bond we had.”

Acciari had originally lined up Brown to make a speech at his wedding.

“Unfortunately, he couldn’t be there. He was definitely missed,” Acciari said.

The bride and the groom kept Brown’s seat available and asked Michelle to sit in his spot. Instead of giving a gift to those involved in their wedding, Noel and Kate took the money they would have spent and donated it to the “Pennies from Heaven” foundation, one that was helping the Brown family.

Michelle and Drew were together for nine years. Since his passing, Michelle remains in contact with Drew’s friends; she even took his spot in the group’s fantasy football league.

She won it last season.

Mark Adams was planning on proposing to his longtime girlfriend, Katherine Graf, this Christmas. He had already picked out the ring, paid the deposit and was waiting for the holidays. After he passed, his father picked up the ring and gave it to Katherine. She wears it.

“She’s a great kid,” said Mark Adams Sr.

The tragedies have brought them closer, made them realize how frail life can be. But that 2015 team was a tight group already, bonded almost from the start.

“They were all so close,” Sandy Brown said. “You would’ve thought they all grew up together and knew each other all along.”

Army played three seasons at Providence (2011-14) and served as assistant captain his senior year. He was pumped when the Friars — who entered the 16-team tournament in 2015 as a No. 4 seed — rallied to win that national championship, especially given Brown’s off-ice fight.

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“Everyone that played with Brownie cared about him,” Army said. “That run was so special and they weren’t going to stop because they didn’t want it to end for Brownie. They wanted to give him a championship.”

That dream came true when the clock ran down on Providence’s 4-3 win over BU that April night. The admiration the Friars felt for one another during their celebration reached an all-time high on the TD Garden ice, as they skated around with PC flags, and cut pieces out of the goalies’ nets. It hasn’t subsided since.

Leaman enjoys when players from that team return to watch games — and afterward will tell him, despite the championship, that the team didn’t compete hard enough. Several times the alumni felt it was something the coach needed to hear.

“I love hearing that,” he said. “That team really did a great job of reaching its potential. That team had a lot of competitors on it. They worked together as a group and competed hard. They were really tough.”

Now in his eighth season as coach, Leaman stresses to his players constantly that more is expected of them than simply being hockey players. The bond shared by the 2015 team is an example of how he wants his players to jell — and to realize that they’re part of more than just a hockey team, that they’re part of the larger PC community, one that cares for its own.

“It’s something I realized very quickly when I got here,” said Leaman, who also coached at Union and was an assistant at Harvard and Maine. “I’ve worked at three other schools and I hadn’t seen a school like this. I hadn’t seen a school that was this community-based as this school.”

The coach’s message resonates with the current players, senior Vincent Desharnais said.

You won’t find players “drinking 25 beers and acting like a total idiot,” Desharnais said. “You have to be smart about it. You’re representing the college. You’re representing PC hockey. You’re representing yourself. The culture here is amazing.”

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When a player or student is dealing with the death of a loved one or struggling with something else in their life, everyone comes together. Brown was first diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, after suffering a leg injury in 2014. An MRI later found a tumor and he began treatment. During his battle, his No. 7 Friars sweater always hung on the bench. His No. 7 was also painted on the wall at Schneider Arena in the student section behind the visitors net.

“The troops rally,” Leaman said. “The whole school rallied around Drew Brown. It wasn’t the hockey program going out saying, ‘One of our players is really hurting.’ It was the student-athletic committee that came up with a lot of the ideas to rally around Drew.”

The legacy of the 2015 team lives on in the current squad. Many of the current players knew Brown and Adams, but never played with them. It doesn’t matter. They, too, are honoring their departed brethren every time they take the ice.

“We’re all Friars. We’re a family,” senior Hayden Hawkey said.

The turnout was immense for both Brown’s and Adams’ services. More than 1,000 people paid their respects at Brown’s wake, and his mother remembers precisely how many attended the funeral.

“I can tell you the exact number,” she said. “He had 419 people at his funeral. It was just incredible. It was remarkable.”

The Adams family held a celebration of life at Turner Hill Country Club in Ipswich, Mass., on Sept. 24. Over 500 people attended, and another 200 were turned away because the room was over capacity. There were another 80 people in a side room listening to the ceremony over speakers.

“It was pretty amazing that many people came,” said Mark Adams Sr. “I love hearing all the reflections of stories about relationships he had. I wouldn’t say ‘selfless,’ but he definitely cared and wanted to do things for other people.”

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Since Brown’s passing a year ago, the support continues to grow. To honor Drew on the first anniversary of his passing, the entire Brown family spent this past weekend with his grandparents in Kentucky.

“It’s a hard weekend,” Sandy Brown said. “He’s with us. That’s for sure. We feel that. It’s hard, but it’s good to be all together as a family.”

Acciari has been in contact with Brown’s family, and the group is planning a dinner when the Bruins play the Red Wings in Detroit on Nov. 21.

A year has passed, but Acciari can’t believe his best friend has been gone that long. He has done everything possible to keep Brown’s legacy alive, but it’s still hard for Acciari to think back to the last time the two were together, that day in the hospital.

“When I walked in that room and saw him, he was all smiles, and for everything he’s gone through, to see his smile again was great,” Acciari said, fighting back tears. “At that time, it was tough for him to talk, so I just told stories to him.”

Doctors and nurses were trying to clear the room and only wanted the family to stay. Brown told everyone, “I want Noel in here with me.”

Against the doctor’s instructions, the two went for a brief walk outside. Later, they watched some of their favorite TV shows. Mostly, they just sat, each making sure the other wasn’t alone.

“We just sat there in silence,” Acciari said. “When I left, I think he knew (it would be the last time). I told him I loved him and said goodbye. His family said, ‘It’s not a goodbye. It’s a see you soon.’ That was the last time I saw him. I don’t regret going, and I’m so happy I did, to spend that last day with him. I have two other brothers, but he was my third brother.”

Sandy Brown agrees.

“It’s so touching that Noel thinks of Drew like that,” she said with her voice cracking. “They may not have been biological brothers. But they were definitely brothers.”

(Top photo illustration: Adrian Guzman / The Athletic with photos from Getty Images)

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