The same week the Washington Stealth opened its pro lacrosse exhibition season, head coach Chris Hall began his fight against cancer.

Hall, a Victoria Shamrocks legend, leads a heavy contingent of Victoria coaches and players that make up the Stealth franchise based in Everett, Wash.

After the Stealth played the Toronto Rock in a preseason match hosted at the Langley Events Centre on Saturday, Hall, who lives in Victoria, spoke for the first time since starting a six-week treatment for throat cancer, with which he was diagnosed in early November.

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B次元官网网址淚 didnB次元官网网址檛 know if IB次元官网网址檇 make it this weekend and itB次元官网网址檚 been fantastic to be here, really helped me through it.B次元官网网址�

ItB次元官网网址檚 a considerable achievement by Hall considering heB次元官网网址檚 undergoing heavy bouts of chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

Hall is hoping to make this weekendB次元官网网址檚 camp in Everett, then take a step back.

The StealthB次元官网网址檚 game versus the Toronto Rock was a rematch of the 2010 and 2011 NLL Champions Cup, which the Stealth won in 2010 and lost in 2011 under HallB次元官网网址檚 guidance.

Assistant coach Art Webster, also a former Shamrocks coach and player, will assume the head coaching role during HallB次元官网网址檚 leave.

The Stealth boast a core of current and former Shamrocks such as Lewis Ratcliff and Rhys Duch, as well as an ex-Victoria Salmon Kings ECHL hockey player vying for a regular season spot, Milan Gajic. The latter was the lone Gajic to take a crack at pro hockey while brothers Nenad, Ilija and Alex played college lacrosse and are now on the Colorado Mammoth of the NLL.

sports@vicnews.com