Coach Steve Bogas, who had a long and successful career in the sport of hockey, passed away on March 18 after a long and prosperous career. His fight against liver cancer was brought to the attention of the broader public by the public proclamation that he made in October. Following the dissemination of the news of Bogas’ passing in the morning, the Greater Cleveland hockey community was inundated with tributes posted on a number of social media platforms across the board at the same moment.
These expressions of condolence were uploaded simultaneously. At approximately ten o’clock in the morning, Jacob Macula, a graduate of Mayfield College who had played for Bogas and who had just finished his first season as head coach of his alma mater, received a phone call from Athletic Director Keith Leffler informing him of the unfortunate news.
Macula had just finished his first season in his new role as head coach. The first season that Macula had been in his current position as head coach had just come to a close. In accordance with the comments made by Macula, “Unfortunately, Steve experienced a setback the week before.” “I had no idea when it was going to happen to me personally, but I found myself wishing that there was a great deal more time.”To put it another way, it conveys a great deal of range of emotions. The simplest way to put it is that it is difficult to do so. From my perspective as someone who has been working in this sector for the past fifteen years, it is quite evident that it is in fact pretty difficult.
It is with great concern that I think about them. According to Macula, it was Leffler who was responsible for bringing the team together at the school in order to relay the information to the other members of the group. In addition, Macula made an effort to communicate with parents in order to give them with information regarding the issue, in the event that they were initially unaware of it. One could hardly deny the fact that Steve was a fighter.
Macula delivered a statement that said the following: “He put forth such a courageous effort.” His presence served as a source of inspiration for us during the rest of the season. It was him who served as a source of motivation for us.
Watching him fight through this will, without a doubt, continue to act as a source of motivation for us as we move forward in this endeavour. This is something that both of us will keep doing in the future. In October, the general public was informed for the very first time that Bogas had been diagnosed with a “rare” form of liver cancer the previous month.
This new information was made public for the very first time. The announcement was made by Bogas, who took the initiative to do so. According to his description of the malignant disease, it was an extremely uncommon occurrence. Through the course of the most recent season, Bogas made the transition from being the head coach of the Wildcats, a position he had held for a total of fourteen seasons, to being an assistant coach with Macula.
This transition took place during the course of the season. A total of fourteen seasons have passed since Bogas had held this position. In spite of the fact that Bogas was given a poor prognosis, he continued to be present at the rink on a rather regular basis. In December, a memorial service and a fundraiser were held in his honour at Gilmour, which was the location of a game between Chagrin Falls and the GCHSHL Blue South Division. The game was played at Gilmour.
Previously, there was a game that was known as “Sticks Out For Bogas.” These events were held in his name since they were a tribute to him. In addition, there were activities that were available for Bogas and his family to participate in at the younger age level. An event that took place in October and was organised by Mentor young Hockey is a good illustration of this phenomenon.
