You’ve Got to Lose to Learn How to Win: Diego Luke’s Story

Diego Luke was a promising youth hockey player in Minnesota—"The State of Hockey"—until kidney disease forced him to step away from the game. His comeback was interrupted by a bout with cancer. Yet he returned to the ice again. Interviewing his mom and a teammate along the way, Luke recounts his traumatic journey back to hockey, which included a bench-clearing brawl in the hospital that brought the cops. "Every game I'm playing," he says now, "I'm winning." Plus: King Kaufman introduces a new song by his former band The Smokejumpers: "If My Heart Was an Elbow, I'd Need Tommy John." Originally published Dec. 2, 2017.