from Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post,

He ducked into a narrow hallway, searching for the “NBC Sports Network” sign, then turned the handle and stepped into the center-ice booth. The door clicked behind him, and as he has for 37 years, he sat down to call a hockey game.

“For the four hours, five hours, six hours I’m here, I don’t feel like I’m sick” Strader said while sitting in a near-empty arena Friday. “And I don’t even feel like the last nine months even happened.”

Strader has spent those nine months undergoing treatment for bile duct cancer, and his battle is ongoing. After joining the Dallas Stars’ broadcast team at the start of last season, he was able to call only five games this year. But a break in treatment freed him up for the start of the playoffs, where he called the Capitals’ 3-2 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

He reached fans who have heard his play-by-play for the Red Wings, Panthers and Coyotes, nationally on ESPN and NBC, and around the world on the NHL’s international Stanley Cup stream. He is fulfilling the promise he made to himself in the summer that he wouldn’t let cancer define him. That he would not stop doing all he has ever known.

“There haven’t been many positives with his situation this year,” Stars President Jim Lites said. “But Dave being back in the booth again for the playoffs is one, for him and for us, the listeners. That is where he is supposed to be.”

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