St. Louis Blues forward Jaden Schwartz changes number to honor late sister
By Cory Buck
St. Louis Blues forward Jaden Schwartz will change his jersey number after the one his sister wore opened up following the defection of Vladimir Sobotka. Formerly No. 9, Schwartz will wear No. 17 in the coming season to honor his late sister, Mandi Schwartz, who wore the number for three years on the Yale women’s ice hockey team before being diagnosed with cancer in 2008. She passed away in 2011 after suffering through a relapse following remission from chemotherapy.
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Schwartz tweeted out his intentions on Friday July 11 as seen below:
The New York Daily News writes as such about Mandi Schwartz:
"Mandi Schwartz played three seasons for Yale before being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in Dec. 2008. Chemotherapy sent the cancer into remission, but it returned a year later and by 2011, following a stem cell transplant in Dec. 2010, she stopped treatment and died at 23."
Mandi’s jersey still hangs in front of her old locker — the same in front of which Jaden and his family poses in the tweet — and her impact is still felt at Yale. As the Daily News notes, “Yale hockey honors Mandi Schwartz each season with its ‘White Out for Mandi’ game at Ingalls Rink with proceeds going to the Mandi Schwartz Foundation. The New Haven school also holds an annual Mandi Schwartz Marrow Donor Registration Drive, which has led to at least 21 donor matches through 2013.”