“The definition of what resilience and hope looks like:” How Mavrik Turnbull captured the hearts of hockey fans and continues to impact the game
So many important memories in Mavrik Turnbull’s short life revolved around hockey.
There was his first game at two months old at the CN Centre in Prince George, and soon, many more, with the toddler peeking above the crowd as he perched on his dad’s shoulders for walks around the concourse.
There were fist bumps as he leaned over the railing to greet the Cougars as they emerged from the tunnel, and mini stick battles so fierce that he wore down the plastic sticks until his parents had to seek out carbon fibre models.
When he was diagnosed with cancer and started taxing rounds of treatment, he leaned on those same mini sticks for support as he built up his strength to walk again.
There were puck drops and behind-the-scenes visits to hockey teams around the Lower Mainland near the B.C. Children’s Hospital.
When it became clear that cancer would take him far too soon, hundreds of hockey players enveloped Mavrik and his family in a wave of support.
And when his celebration of life was held in September of 2026, his loved ones gathered again at the CN Centre to honour a little boy who made a big impact.
It’s been three months since Mavrik passed away at three years old after battling neuroblastoma for nearly two years.
His dad, Derek, finds comfort in the fact that his son found a passion to keep him company in difficult times.
“He was the happiest kid, no matter what was happening,” Turnbull said. “He would be hooked up to the IV pole, getting chemo run into him, and you had to run around with the pole because he was playing hockey all through the hallways. I mean, he didn’t care what was happening to him. He just wanted to play hockey, or play with dinosaurs, or look at hockey cards, or do all of that while watching hockey games, or having highlights played. There were times where he had to have the TV on one game, his iPad on a WHL game, and my phone set up there playing a third game. He was a ball of energy and was always happy to either give somebody a stick to play hockey with — or hockey fight them, one or the other.
He is the definition of what resilience and hope looks like.”
Mavrik gained international attention when he entered hospice care in the spring and his family put out the call for videos of encouragement from hockey players.
Within hours, the hockey world stepped up.
The Turnbulls received 145 videos from NHL stars like Leon Draisaitl, legends of the game like Cougars alum Zdeno Chara and Hayley Wickenheiser, and PWHLers, all the way to junior hockey players and kids just like him.
“Us ‘Canes would love to win a Stanley Cup for you,” Logan Stankoven said in a snippet ahead of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, three days before the Blazers alum would hoist the NHL’s top prize.
And those who could make the trip to see him in person did.
One day, it was Connor Bedard and Fraser Minten.
On another afternoon, Macklin Celebrini.
Cougars owner and Olympic gold medalist Eric Brewer tracked down the Turnbulls’ phone number and arrived the same day that the Turnbulls had asked for videos.
Current Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jansen Harkins spent about seven hours over multiple visits playing mini sticks and dinosaurs with the youngster, who always seemed to muster some extra energy when Harkins walked through the door.
Those memories are helping the Turnbulls power through tough days and focus on easing stress for other families with children experiencing health struggles.
They’ve formed the Mavrik Turnbull Foundation, which is primarily focused on providing financial support for families impacted by pediatric cancer in Northern B.C. who need to travel to the Lower Mainland for treatment.
“We spent over 500 nights at Ronald McDonald House in Vancouver,” Turnbull recalled. “Our super interim goal for now is to help these families and have this resource that they can apply to us and get some immediate funding to help cover bills or whatever they need. On top of your kid now having cancer, your entire world changed, but the rest of the world doesn’t. So, your bills still happen. You still have to pay your mortgage. Now, you just have to pay your mortgage while you’re not there, and every everything else that comes with life.”
Long-term, they hope to lead the charge to establish a pediatric oncology unit in Northern B.C., to keep families closer to their support networks.
Currently, those services are not available, and kids requiring chemotherapy and other cancer treatments must make the long trek to the B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.
Every year, the Foundation will also cover hockey fees for a child who has gone through cancer or other medical distress.
In the future, that sponsorship will open to applications, but for its inaugural season the Turnbulls have selected a familiar face to Cats fans — eight-year-old Nixon Andreza, who has recently cleared major medical hurdles in his battle with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare type of soft-tissue cancer.
Nixon and Mavrik dropped the puck at Cougars Fight Cancer night in 2025 and formed a close bond with then-captain Riley Heidt.
“They were friends,” Turnbull said. “He was close to us, and his relationship with Mav, and then, you know, his own struggles that he went through, it seemed like the right choice.
There’s lots of tears. It’s tough what they’ve been through, and I mean, it’s tough for everybody.”
Across North America, the hockey players he impacted are also doing their part to carry on his memory.
Red Deer Rebels forward Cameron Kuzma linked up with the Turnbulls through the trading card world.
His parents were on the hunt for Kuzma’s early WHL cards and linked up with Derek, and ended up becoming close friends.
Even as a member of the rival team, Mavrik was always excited to see Kuzma and meet his then-Thunderbirds teammates.
“He was just a giggly little guy,” Kuzma recalled. “He had a smile that, you know, just lit up the room. I don’t even know how to put it into words. Just seeing him, you know, brought joy to me and a lot of other guys. And he’s just such a fun and joyful kid that I just loved to see him, and he just loved hockey. Having cancer at two years old really is horrible, and you know, for that to happen at such a young age, and to a kid that had such aspirations to play hockey and stuff… I feel like that’s why it touched hearts of those guys too. They know that not everyone can play because of certain reasons, but we want everyone to play.”
Vancouver Giants forward Blake Chorney is wearing a memorial wristband for each game throughout his draft season, while Kuzma and Cougars alum Ty Young, now playing for the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks, have joined on as official ambassadors.
Kuzma has a tribute patch in his stall at the Marchant Crane Centrium and wears a special Mavrik hat most days. He loves sharing the youngster’s stories with teammates and, really, anyone who asks him about it.
While he wasn’t able to attend Mavrik’s celebration of life at the beginning of the season, his parents made the trip from St. Albert, Alta., to Northern B.C. for the service.
He also hopes to have the Turnbulls visit him in Red Deer and take in a game.
“I’ve had a few people ask me who Mavrik is and what the foundation’s about and stuff like that, and I tell them, and, you know, they’re like, ‘Yeah, like we want to get into this,” Kuzma added. “I really appreciate people when they do that, and they ask, and I can tell Mavrik’s story too.
Derek and Vanessa and the kids, they’re all awesome, and I feel for them, so I’m going to do everything I can to help them out and try to do some stuff around here too at the hospital and stuff, not just for Mavrik, but other kids that are going through the same things.”
WHL Graduate and former Cougars defender Aleksey Chichkin, who was among the players who went to visit Mavrik in hospice, has founded an apparel company called Ebb Athletics and is supporting the Foundation on the merchandise side.
“Riley Heidt was really close with him, our captain,” Chichkin said. “He kind of brought him (Mavrik) into the room. He ran in there, and I think every game after that, he was always, always high-fiving us on our way out to the ice. It was really cool to spend that time with him and it really meant a lot to me.”
Eagle-eyed fans can still spot Bedard and Celebrini wearing Mavrik’s hats.
Chorney and the Giants also hope to host the Turnbulls for their Hockey Fights Cancer Night on Saturday, November 21, against, naturally, the Cougars.
“We think we’re strong, but we, you know, haven’t faced anywhere near what he’s faced,” Chorney said. “He was just so young.”
I got a wristband in his honour, just to kind of carry with me and for his memory. I’ll continue to do that, and yeah, he’s always going to be with me.”
Fans in Prince George who buy Cougars tickets online can also use the promotional code MAVRIKTURNBULL26 to donate a portion of their ticket cost to the Foundation.
And back at the CN Centre, at the top of Section ‘R’, there’s a large placard with a picture of a beaming Mavrik flashing a double thumbs-up in his Cougars jersey.
While it’s been a bittersweet return to the arena that has held so many happy memories, that picture is how the Turnbulls most hope people remember their son.
Smiling, surrounded by love, and at the rink.
