He was one of the best players to suit up for the Rochester Americans. An Amerks Hall of Famer, the leading scorer on their last Calder Cup championship team in 1996, he stayed in the area when his hockey career ended in 2002 and became the head coach of the Spencerport High School team.

At age 42, Charron has inoperable cancer of the stomach. He is taking his battle with the disease and a grim prognosis public.

"We've certainly have seen that miracles can happen," says Charron. "They certainly can. I don't know if I'm looking for a miracle, but I'm looking to be one of those that says, 'hey, he overcame the odds.' I think that's what my life has been about, overcoming the odds. And now it's juts one more thing to overcome."

"I think the people who have beaten it in the past, I've heard a lot of great stories of people who have beaten cancer and I just want to be one of them."

There is a major golf event being planned in Charron's honor at Oak Hill in August. The Amerks Alumni Association is coordinating fund raising efforts on his behalf. The expectation is for the effort to become perpetual to help others facing cancer. You can connect to craig charron.com.