Dan Boeser sat out of hockey practice last Wednesday. It seems the Badgers’ senior captain has been a bit under the weather recently and decided to take a day off to recover. But when asked to give an interview concerning his involvement in the creation of a program in which Badger players visit cancer patients in local hospitals, a little flu bug was not about to stop Dan from hobbling out to enthusiastically extol the virtues of giving back to the community.

That’s just the type of person Boeser is.

Sailing smoothly along into his junior year, Boeser revealed to the press, his fans and followers Sept. 2, 2002, that the waters around him were about to turn rough. Dan had been diagnosed with a non-Hodgkin’s form of cancer known as follicular B-cell lymphoma.

But a few hospital visits and the excruciating process of radiation treatment were not enough to beat Boeser down. Persevering through his unfortunate situation, Dan managed to make it back in time for the Badgers’ opening game against Rensselaer.

Not only did he fulfill his on-ice duties, racking up 12 assists from the point, but taking tough luck and turning it into a positive experience, Boeser realized that he might be able to help some of the kids he was meeting in the hospital.

“When I was going through radiation treatments and was in the hospital a lot, I got a chance to meet some other kids in similar situations,” Boeser explained. “That’s where I got the idea. It would sort of get them excited just to get to hang out with a hockey player from UW. I thought it’d be nice to get some other guys together and go over to the hospital and hang out with some of the kids. Coach had had a similar idea, so he was pretty open to it.”

Together with head coach Mike Eaves, Dan developed a community-service program in which he and his teammates would make regular trips to visit sick children and bring a bit of excitement into their lives.

“At least for one moment it takes their mind off what they’re going through,” Boeser said. “Just for a few seconds they can think about something else.”

Eaves beamed with pride when asked about the accomplishments of his captain, with whom he has formed a very close relationship.

“When Danny went through the cancer treatment, I think he was really touched by the courage he saw in the other kids at the hospital,” Eaves said. “Some of these kids were even younger than him, and the way they handled themselves really moved him. He can really relate to what these kids are going through.”

That empathy has allowed Boeser to genuinely make a difference in many young lives.

“He can talk to other children in bad situations like the one he was in and share some of the lessons that he learned,” Eaves explained. “There are going to be tough times, but you can make it through them if you concentrate on controlling what you can control on a day-to-day basis. There’s no magic pill. It’s determination and attitude, and when you can share that with people from personal experience, I think it inspires them and can help them get through a bad situation.”

Boeser’s work has not gone unnoticed. When the Hockey Humanitarian Foundation released the nominees for its annual award for “college hockey’s finest citizen,” Boeser’s name was on the short list of 14. Last Thursday, Boeser was announced as one of five finalists.

The foundation’s mission statement describes the need to recognize athletes like Boeser. “Team games, by definition, encompass both teamwork and the contributions of the individual to the success of the group as a whole,” the foundation states. “We want to acknowledge the accomplishments of personal character, scholarship, and the giving of oneself off the ice to the larger community as well.”

“It’s a big honor just to be mentioned in the same sentence as the rest of the candidates,” Boeser said. “I’ve read some of their stories, and they’re just amazing. Every one of the them is worthy of the award, so it’s a pretty big thing for me just to be nominated.”

While Boeser may take the modest stance on his accomplishments’ comparable merits, Eaves believes he deserves as much credit as any of the nominees.

“If you look at the description of the award,” Eaves said, “it’s an award for a young man who has principles that involve caring about other people and being a strong enough personality to survive things and look outside of himself. Danny’s had some real challenges in his life and he continues to push on. When you look at what he went through, you think about how terrible a thing it is. But the lessons he learned from the experience have made him a survivor. That’s why he was nominated, and that’s why he’s a very viable candidate to win the award.”