The Return of Ty Rimmer to Bakersfield

In a feel good story with the ECHL, it appears that Bakersfield Condors goaltender Ty Rimmer is making a recovery from cancer and will be back on the ice soon. The Edmonton Oilers prospect was diagnosed with testicular cancer just six weeks ago and he will be ready to play again in the near future.

The 22 year old goalie found a lump six weeks ago and the Oilers made sure he was in surgery just under a week later. He does not need any radiation or chemotherapy following the removal of the testicle and lump, and now he should be alright to continue to play hockey.

Rimmer will have to check in to the Cross Cancer Institute every two months, but he now has an opportunity to continue his hockey career.

“The first week was pretty tough, but after that, everything happened so fast,” said Rimmer, an Edmonton native, to the Edmonton Journal. “I’ve had so many good people around me throughout the whole process that it didn’t make it easy, but it helped a lot.”

Rimmer had played in 25 games with the Condors this year where he had a GAA of 3.20 and a save percentage of .889. Before that, he played in 2014 with the Quad City Mallards of the Central Hockey League where his goals against average was a 2.84.

Rimmer has seen four American Hockey League games in his career between the Manchester Monarchs and Oklahoma City Barons. He bounced around in the junior British Columbia hockey league WHL with Brandon, Prince George, Tri-City and Lethbridge.

“It was a game day, so I had an appointment in the morning and didn’t go to the rink. The guys were pretty concerned, and obviously so was I.”  Rimmer said to the Edmonton Oilers website “The team doctor told me the ultrasound uncovered a tumor in my left testicle, and basically the process was to have surgery as soon as possible.”

This isn’t the first Oilers prospect to have this process in recent years. Defenseman Brandon Davidson, who plays in the AHL with Oklahoma City, had a similar situation in 2012.

Once Rimmer is back in action with the Condors, he will try to help the team salvage their season as they are just a few points out of the cellar themselves and won’t make the playoffs. But for the Condors, Oilers, and for Rimmer, the story is more about his return after successfully fighting this deadly disease.