A Warrior On and Off The Ice

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AT ONE POINT THIS SEASON, KASEN ANDRUSHKO LED THE ENTIRE CAPITAL REGION JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE IN SCORING.

And get this, he is a defenceman for the league leading Selkirk Fisherman. In fact, Andrushko still sat atop the league in goal-scoring at the end of January with 15 goals. So, has he been compared to Bobby Orr? “My buddies sometimes say ‘Kasen Makar, which is kind of funny, and I wear No. 8 also,” Andrushko told Game On, in reference to Colorado Avalanche highscoring rearguard Cale Makar.

“He’s up there right now in scoring,” said Fishermen coach Chris Poponick. “He’s leading our team in scoring. He’s a man possessed in his fi nal year of junior, that’s for sure.” “If you didn’t know he had any (health) challenges you certainly wouldn’t believe there’s anything there. He’s just a trooper,” Poponick added.

Challenges? Andrushko, now 21, was diagnosed with glycogen storage disease when he was just nine months old. “I was missing an enzyme in my liver, so basically, I can’t control my blood sugars,” he explained. “So, if my blood sugar drops, I’ve got to maintain it day and night. It’s a challenge for me to overcome it. It’s not as hard now but, when I was younger, it was harder for my parents.” It is not related to diabetes, as you might expect. “It’s a rare condition,” said Andrushko, who will have to deal with the issue for the rest of his life. “It’s like one in 200,000. Basically, I can’t stabilize my blood sugar, so I have to have a corn-starch type of mixture to maintain it. I need that every four hours. So, before the game, I’ll have a drink of that, and I always have to be aware of my blood sugars.” While Andrushko does not have to totally avoid sugar, he does try to avoid it, eating healthier fare.

“Sugary stuff , I stay away from and obviously, alcohol and stuff like that,” he said. Andrushko – who also had unrelated heart surgery to address a hole in his heart when he was three years old – gets regular checkups on his disease with doctors. Because of what he had to go through while growing up, Andrushko spent a number of years at the Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg. So, he decided to spearhead an annual family Christmas drive to get toys for kids staying in the Children’s Hospital every yuletide. “It’s our way of giving back for all of the sacrifice they did for me,” Andrushko said. “Obviously, I had been in the hospital quite a few times growing up, so it’s kind of what me and my family have been doing for the last (10-15) years now. It’s a good cause and makes the kids’ day when we go over to the hospital (to give them toys) during the Christmas break.”

Meanwhile, Andrushko is enjoying the best year he has ever had on the ice for the first-place Fishermen. And to make it even better, he was announced in lateFebruary as the CRJHL’s Defenceman of the Year. “Yeah, it’s been a good year, things are going pretty good,” the 5-foot-8, 180-pound blueliner said. “I would say it’s at A level … I think I’m just getting rewarded more this year. I’ve always had chances, but they’re just going in more now… pucks are going in and I’ve always worked on my shot, so that helps.” Poponick, who once played for the Fishermen alongside Andrushko’s dad, Brian, knows he has a gem in Kasen. “He’s been a good, steady player for us all the way along,” he said.

“He’s contributed in all areas of the ice. He’s gotten lots of ice time moving up. But this year, it just seems like he’s on a mission. He wants to finish this thing off strong. He wants to be the best player he possibly can. You know, as players mature at different levels, he’s really grown into himself and his strength and speed and consistency, and edge work and stuff that he does on his skates, is a really big differentiator this year, for sure. “He’s a very good twoway defenceman. He knows when to jump into the rush. At times, he’s a little bit too aggressive but he’s really figuring it out this year. We put him in all situations and most nights, he’s on the ice anywhere from 25 to 35 minutes per game.”

By the way, Kasen’s brother, Karter – who helps him with the annual Christmas Drive -- plays for the CRJHL Beausejour Comets. He does not have the same health issues. Kasen, who just finished his fourth year of electrical at Red River, does not yet know what his hockey future holds. “I’m going to play in a summer league in the city and we’ll see where that goes,” said Andrushko, whose father is an electrician. “I’ve got no plans yet.”