Will Francis begins pro hockey career after fighting through leukemia three times

CORALVILLE - It always was the dream.

As a kid growing up skating on the outdoor rink in his family’s backyard in the suburban Twin Cities, Will Francis pretended he was a professional hockey player. Scoring the game-winning goal, leaping into the air and celebrating a win with his teammates.

The dream, of course, never included Tulsa, Okla, where Francis is playing for the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers. And nowhere in that dream was having to fight leukemia three times before getting his professional shot.

The 24-year-old defenseman is in his first full pro season after signing a contract with the American Hockey League’s San Diego Gulls and being assigned to the ECHL, a minor-league level below the AHL. Tulsa opened with two games this past weekend against the Iowa Heartlanders in Coralville, and Francis had a pair of assists in his club’s 5-4 win Sunday afternoon.

“I think good things come to those who wait,” he said after that game. “I’ve had quite the journey. It’s always fun to speculate, a lot of what ifs. What if this didn’t happen? What if that didn’t happen, where would I be? But you just can’t have that mindset. You’ve just got to keep that belief, that I can make it to the NHL, because that’s the ultimate goal. Make it up there and win a Stanley Cup.”

Francis played junior hockey for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in the 2018-19 season, well enough that the Anaheim Ducks selected him in the sixth round of the 2019 NHL Draft. He returned to play 10 games the ensuing season for C.R., a knee injury incurred in a fluke way during practice leading to season-ending surgery and him deciding to enroll for winter/spring semester at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

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It was there that Francis began feeling increasingly poorly (constant fatigue, lack of appetite, nosebleeds), and he was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March 2020. After enduring grueling chemotherapy sessions, he was able to play five games for UMD in the 2021-22 season and 28 more in 2022-23 as a sophomore.

He was cancer free, and all was well. But Francis suffered a relapse of the disease in August 2023, part of his treatment being a transplant of bone marrow donated by his younger brother, Luke, who just happened to be a perfect match.

Francis missed the 2023-24 hockey season completely, but began preparing for a return to the ice the summer of 2024 following another remission. He was diagnosed with another relapse last October.

“It has just been, like, very high-low,” he said. “It has been just trying to plan out what the next year is going to be like, with my last two years not being able to have a set-in-stone plan for anything. I’m still enjoying it, though, taking everything day by day.

“I’ve had a great support system of family and teammates, my fiancee now.”

Their wedding will be this upcoming summer.

“It’s just ... you get to enjoy every day like it’s your last, right?” Francis said. “It really puts things into perspective. I’d say that’s kind of the biggest thing we’ve had to deal with, just taking things each day. Whether it’s sunshine and rainbows, or whether it’s gloomy and rainy.”

It’s sunshine, rainbows and hockey right now. Once again in remission, Francis returned to play four games at the end of his senior season with Duluth and then signed a PTO (Player Tryout Contract) with San Diego, playing three games last spring.

He attended rookie camp for the Ducks in late summer.

“What Will went through, overcoming and beating cancer three times, is really remarkable,” Ducks Coach Joel Quenneville told NHL.com. “His perseverance, his commitment to living out his dream of playing pro hockey has inspired every one of us.

“And his courage through his journey, shows the type of role model he is, not just as a hockey player but as a human being.”

Francis fared well at San Diego’s preseason camp recently. He simply was sent to Tulsa in order to play.

He has lost a ton of development time due to his illness, a kid who has played just 47 competitive games in six years.

“I had a strong camp coming back after rookie camp in Anaheim,” Francis said. “Then in San Diego, too, before I got sent here. I just keep trying to build my game. Obviously the last two years, I haven’t played a whole bunch of games, as I’d have liked to. But it’s just good to come down here, get confidence with the puck and make my way back up. I know I can play up there.

“I’m just going to play a ton of games, play a ton of minutes. Just get comfortable out there.”

Amazingly, despite the leukemia and all of the medical treatment he endured, he was able to finish his degree at Minnesota-Duluth in management/communications. Francis has checkups with his oncologist each month and says he feels as good physically as he has in a long while.

“All I know is the original diagnosis was on a Friday the 13th,” he said. “That’s one where we don’t like to think about it too much. A little Halloweeny, as we’re getting to Halloween here.

“You know, it’s just a month at a time. That’s all it is.”

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com