New 'brother' gives Whalers
an inspirational assist

BY NATALIE SHAVER
Feb. 5, 2010, 1:30 a.m.

   Some people might say little Johnny Muller is lucky.

  Johnny and his family attended their first Whalers game on Saturday, January 16 and watched warm-ups from the penalty box.

  Whalers goaltender Matt Hackett skated over at the start of warm-ups and gave him a goalie stick signed by the whole team.

  During the game, the Muller family sat in the front row of section 114 and saw all three Whalers goals scored right in front of them in the 3-0 win over Niagara.

  Johnny even got a game puck.

  After the game, Johnny was lucky enough to catch Ryan Hayes’ Star of the Game shirt.

  He then got to go in the Whalers locker room and meet all the Whalers and get autographs.

  Yep, Johnny’s a pretty lucky kid, especially since his brain tumors aren’t cancerous.

  Johnny and his family came into contact with the Plymouth Whalers through the Friends of Jaclyn program, which tries to improve the quality of life for children with pediatric brain tumors and their families by matching the child with a sports team. The goal of Friends of Jaclyn is that a deep bond will be formed between the child, the child's family, and the sports team. The relationship is a priceless gift. The gift is in the relationship; a child is gaining a loving support network and the team is gaining an insight into the value of life and the power of love.

  "It's great to have Johnny and his younger brother Aidan around us as we keep winning, it's as if they are our little luck charms," said Whalers forward Ryan Hayes. "Myself and all the boys love having them around us even after the games. We have all grown to know each other, which is great, not only for Johnny, but for us and the organization as well. Not many (of the players) understood what we were doing at first by taking in Johnny, but the team has come together and realized what it means to the family as well as Johnny to be around a team-like atmosphere."

  Johnny's family knew something was a little different about him early on. He didn't walk until he was 18 months old and didn't speak much at all. His doctor thought he might be somewhere on the autism spectrum, but could not give a diagnosis.

  Johnny’s first tumor was discovered when he was 2 years old. When he went to the doctor, his parents were told Johnny had the mumps and were sent home. They waited a couple weeks and returned to the doctor when the lump didn't go away. They were then sent to an ear, nose and throat doctor who said it was a tumor. The tumor was located on his parotid gland in front of his ear and Johnny's doctors didn't want to remove it because it was so close to his facial nerves. There was a 90% chance he would lose function in half of his face if it was removed. After a year, his parents knew they would have to chance the risky surgery because the tumor had doubled in size. Luckily, it was removed with absolutely no nerve damage and the night it was removed, Johnny spoke some of his first words, “no hurt”. Until that point, nobody knew that the tumor had been causing him pain.

  The surgery also left Johnny with one of his most famous trademarks – his Mohawk. Since doctors had to shave half his head to remove the tumor, Johnny’s parents shaved the other half to match, and the look has stuck his whole life.

   After this tumor came out, things still weren’t quite right and Johnny went from doctor to doctor until finally an MRI of his brain showed a mass in his right cerebellum. This was a bitter sweet find because it finally made all his symptoms make sense, but who wants a brain tumor!

   The area his tumor is in controls balance and sensory function, because of this many of his symptoms mimic autism. Although his left side should be affected since his tumor is on the right side of his brain, the tumor sits low in the cerebellum and actually controls the same side of the body that it is in. Johnny is naturally right handed, but because of the weakness in that side he started training himself to use his left hand to write and do many other things. He still switches back and forth between hands depending on how he's feeling and even keeps a right and left handed mitt with him when playing baseball because he never knows which one will feel right!

   Johnny has trouble balancing, jumping, skipping, and even running. His right side is considerably weaker than his left, and even hopping on his right foot is quite a challenge. However, he loves sports and plays baseball and soccer and now wants to start playing hockey because of the Whalers.

  The Whalers are heavily involved with the community and realize the biggest assist doesn’t have to come on the ice. The relationship Johnny has built with all his new brothers on the Whalers has had an immediate impact on everyone. Johnny met another member from the Friends of Jaclyn program at his first game and realized for the first time that he isn’t the only kid with a brain tumor. He has stepped up his physical therapy because he wants to get his legs strong enough to skate as fast as his favorite player Tyler Seguin. Seguin and the Whalers will be taking Johnny skating after their game this week.

  In the Niagara game, Hayes tallied a goal and 2 assists in the 3-0 win, but it was after the game and off the ice that he made the biggest impact. Hayes helped organize everything with the Muller family and has become a favorite of both Johnny and his little brother Aidan. When kids tour the locker room after the game, Hayes’ stall is a little squished as Aidan is a mainstay the whole time and Johnny wanders back and forth between sitting in Hayes and Seguin’s stalls.

  Even Whalers fans are giving out huge assists. David Slayton won the chuck-a-puck prize against Brampton that included a Tyler Seguin fathead. He saw how much fun Johnny and Aidan were having at the game that he gave the boys the fathead. Slayton didn’t know Johnny’s story or that Seguin was his favorite player, but the smile on Johnny’s face capped off a great night for everyone.

  The Whalers are reaping the benefits of their new best buddy as well. Although Seguin promised Johnny a goal for his first game against Niagara, it didn’t happen. Johnny said it was fine and knew Seguin would score a goal for him soon. He just needed to touch the stick for good luck. Some might think Seguin has the lucky touch, but maybe it’s Johnny's touch as Seguin is now on a career-best tying 6-game goal streak.

  The Whalers also haven't lost since Johnny attended his first game and are on a 7-game winning streak.

  "It's great to see their faces before and after the games," Hayes said. "We know our lucky charms are with us at our home games."

  "There is no doubt in Johnny's mind that he is the team's good luck charm," added Johnny's mom, Krissy.

  Guess little Johnny Muller is lucky.