Wayne Fleming Dies At 62: Longtime Assistant In The NHL Loses Battle With Brain Cancer

Longtime NHL assistant coach, Wayne Fleming died from brain cancer at his home in Calgary Monday.

Fleming underwent surgery after a malignant tumor was discovered in April 2011, according to Yahoo! His suffering came to an end after nearly two years of battling the cancer.

"Hockey Canada has lost a great friend, and the hockey world has lost not only a tremendous coach, but a wonderful man," said Bob Nicholson, president and CEO of Hockey Canada. "We send our condolences to Wayne's wife, Carolyn, their four children and the rest of the Fleming family."

During the 62-year-old coach's time with the NHL, he was an assistant with the Islanders, Edmonton, Calgary, Philadelphia, Phoenix and the Lightning. Fleming assisted Canada to a silver medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics and gold in 2002.

 "We do go back a ways," former head coach in the NHL Dave King said reminiscing Tuesday from his home in Phoenix. "I'm pretty sure we played against each other in college. My, my. I was at the University of Saskatchewan and he was at Manitoba. He was a centreman, too, I believe. Smart, smart player, as I remember. I can't ever recall losing a faceoff to him, though."

Fleming coached for 33 years, which also included time as a head coach in Europe and time with the University of Manitoba. In 1985, he won the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union Coach of the Year, according to the Calgary Flames website.

He made the move to the NHL in 1997, when he joined the New York Islanders as an assistant coach. Fleming didn't get to hoist the Stanley Cup during his time, but he still had an effect with six NHL clubs.

"You talk to Ken Hitchcock, you talk to the guys in Tampa Bay, whatever team he went to, they were pretty successful," King said. "He'd just be there in the background, someone a lot of hockey fans maybe wouldn't even know, but anyone within the inner circle of that team knew, understood, what he meant. Ask and they'd tell you 'Oh boy, what an important guy.'"