Silver Knights coach begins leave of absence for cancer treatment
Silver Knights coach Manny Viveiros will begin a planned medical leave of absence this week to undergo treatment for prostate cancer, the team announced Tuesday.
Viveiros, 55, is expected to miss three to four weeks while recovering.
Assistant Jamie Heward will take over as the interim coach with assistant Joel Ward, goaltending coach Fred Brathwaite and video coach Andrew Doty.
“The tests that we have at the training camp with VGK for staff and players, it’s going to save my life,” Viveiros said in October. “Now we know what we’re going to do and the way we’re going to treat this and go after this. For me, the hardest part, not just for myself, especially for my family, is not knowing. Now we know, and we’re going to do whatever we can to meet this head on and hopefully we can beat this.”
Viveiros took a non-COVID medical leave of absence from the American Hockey League team Oct. 15 and revealed his diagnosis Oct. 28 during the “HSK Today” radio show on KLAV-AM (1230).
The cancer was discovered during a routine physical during training camp in September when a blood test revealed elevated levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA), Viveiros said. Doctors later confirmed the diagnosis through a biopsy.
Viveiros was able to return to the Silver Knights’ bench Oct. 29 and guided the team to a record of 8-6-1-1 (18 points) and third place in the Pacific Division.
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
