University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs Hockey player Will Francis, a senior from Shoreview, is back on the ice after a bone marrow transplant this spring.

“Going into it, I didn’t know what life would look like again,” Francis said. “I didn’t know if I’d play hockey again.”

Francis has battled two bouts of leukemia. His first cancer diagnosis came in March of 2020 and he finished chemo in June of 2022. In August of 2023, the cancer returned. Francis decided to undergo a bone marrow transplant back in April.

“I had the golden ticket opportunity,” he said. “My brother is a 100% match.”

Francis’ little brother Luke, 14 at the time of the procedure back in April, donated his white blood cells to help.

“It’s huge, it’s brought us closer together for sure,” Francis said.

“We missed him in the room last year, we missed him on the ice year,” said UMD Men’s Hockey Head Coach Scott Sandelin. “He brings size and edge to his game.”

Francis, a defenseman, was drafted in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft by the Anaheim Ducks.

He played high school hockey at Centennial in the north metro and then junior hockey with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the USHL.

After the transplant, Francis says his brother jokes around about the future.

“[Luke] always jokes if…I make it to the NHL, ‘It’s my blood, not yours,'” Francis said. “We found the best way to get through it is humor.”

He spoke at a press conference before this weekend’s games in Duluth and called his little brother “courageous.”

The Bulldogs open their 2024-2025 season this weekend at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth against Bemidji State University on Saturday at 5 p.m.

You can join the National Marrow Donor Program’s registry of donors here.