His teammates on the Penguins had no idea he was doing it. Not at first, anyways.



Trevor Daley’s mom Trudy attended the first two games of the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, watching the Pittsburgh Penguins split with the New York Rangers while Daley picked up a pair of assists in what was the start of a magical run for the Penguins.



Those were the last live hockey games she would get to see her son play.



After years of being his biggest supporter, from his days playing in Vaughan, Ontario and then Sault Ste. Marie and Utah and Hamilton and Dallas and Chicago and finally Pittsburgh, she was the biggest influence in his life.



She was also battling diabetes, and later cancer. And the fight was at its most serious as Daley’s best shot at winning a Stanley Cup for the first time in his career was beginning to emerge. It was all happening at once in the spring of 2016.



“When she went home, she immediately went to the hospital and...