Grass Lake native and Providence College forward Drew Brown is battling cancer

By Michael Caples –

Providence College announced today that junior forward Drew Brown, a Grass Lake, Mich., native, is returning home because a rare form of bone cancer.

Brown, a product of the Chelsea Varsity hockey program, has recently began chemotherapy treatment at the University of Michigan’s University Hospital in Ann Arbor to battle Ewing’s sarcoma, a cancer discovered while Brown was being treated for an injury.

“My family and my teammates have been great,” Brown said in a release from the team. “I have had so much support from them and that’s made a tough situation a lot easier.”

The Michigan native was having an MRI conducted from a lower-body injury sustained during Providence’s Hockey East semifinal game at the TD Garden when a tumor was discovered.

“The [Providence College] training and medical staff was there every step of the way, trying to figure out what was wrong,” Brown said. “I’m glad our sports medicine department takes such pride in caring for their athletes and found this tumor early because of their persistence.”

Brown, who played at the Kent School in Connecticut before moving on to the NCAA level, has played in 75 games over the last three seasons for the Friars, recording 10 goals and 22 assists for 32 points. He’s a marketing major at Providence.

“Drew is in for a big fight but he’s as tough and as hardworking as they come,” head coach Nate Leaman said. “I have known Drew and his family for several years and we will be there to support them however we can in the coming year.”