The Westfort Maroons under-15 A club will have a little extra motivation to play hockey for the rest of the season. Their teammate, Josua Natri, was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor in the new year.

“Josua was diagnosed just after New Year’s,” Maroons head coach Bill Brown recalled. “He’s finished his first round of chemotherapy. He’s responding well. The prognosis is good. Obviously it’s not an easy thing for anyone to go through, especially a 13-year-old.”

Josua is in Toronto getting the best care possible.

“Currently they’re doing blood counts and stuff before he can have his next round. The first round has gone well. Rough spots and everything, but so far everything seems to be going well,” said Julie Brown, the Maroons manager.

Bill Brown and the Westfort Maroons organization look to keep things positive. The team is playing in the massive Robin’s Minor Hockey Tournament in Thunder Bay this week.

“It’s hard to articulate. I don’t think (the boys) fully comprehended the seriousness of what it is since Josua’s being treated in Toronto. Obviously everyone’s reached out to him. The team has a group chat. They communicate with him. It’s been nothing but positive and supportive,” said coach Brown.

“We’ve been trying to avoid using this as our rallying point for the team,” he added. “Again, the message is positive. We’re hoping to have the team talk to Josua as part of the tournament, obviously not face to face but over Face Time or the like.”

Jarno Karjanlahti, Josua’s uncle, has started a GoFundMe account. The response has been off the charts.

“The support from the hockey community has blown us away. (Josua’s) mom hasn’t had communication with everybody but wanted us to let everybody know how much they appreciate it. Everybody’s thoughts and support, and obviously the enormous, generous donations are helping the family get through the worst time of their life right now,” said Julie.

“He’s been a trooper. He’s getting through it. I think the biggest thing for the hockey community is it hits your heart. It could be any one of our kids. I think that’s where all the great support comes because everybody’s thinking it could have been their kid,” she added.

Natri is quite a force on the rink as a player.

“This is the second year that Josua has played on our team.,” said coach Brown. “He played on our (under-13) team last year. From a hockey perspective he scored over 100 goals for our team last year.”

“Over 130,” corrected his wife, Julie.

“Just over a 100, just because he’s pretty modest,” laughed coach Brown. “He’s an exceptional player. We recognized something was different this year.”

From evaluations on Josua didn’t seem to be his normal prolific self.

“Things came to a head during Christmas break,” Julie recalled. “We were in a Winnipeg tournament (in late December). He didn’t play. They came home. We messaged them to see how they were doing. They had been getting tests done, looking to find out what was going on. And that’s when Heidi said they were at Sick Kids Hospital. Basically, (Jan. 1) we found out he was there.”

Josua was penciled in the line-up for a Dec. 28 game in Winnipeg when he took himself out.

Treatment started “fast and furious,” said coach Brown. “Fundraising started right away. The hockey community just rallied behind it.”

The U15AA Kenora Thistles collected $593 at their Challenge Cup last week. They matched the $593, added in $14, and made a contribution of $1,200.

Nearly 300 individual donors have come forward. The present account was over $33,500 as of Thursday night.

Helmet stickers barring Josua’s initial and number (6) were part of the fundraising efforts. Every Maroon has one on their helmet.

“It’s a real shame this had to happen to him,” said Westfort Maroons captain Ben Cella. “We miss him. He’s a good player. We like to go out there do our best, play our best for Josua. We know we work for him. I hope we do well in this tournament. Win some games for him.”

To contribute to Josua Natri’s GoFundMe account go to the GoFundMe website. Search “Josua”. The smiling blonde kid in the boat is your man.

The inspired Maroons kicked off their run at the Robin’s on Thursday with a 2-1 win over the Thunder Bay Elks 82s at Delaney Arena.

Jayden Waboose scored the game winner for Westfort at 9:59 of the second period. Ajitpartap Singh Hayer opened the scoring for the Elks in the first period. Cella tied the game, setting up Waboose’s heroics.

Waboose was Maroons MVP while Kody Dennis took the Elks MVP. Christian Moro shouldered the loss.

Robin’s — dubbed the largest minor hockey tournament in Northwestern Ontario — features over 130 teams in eight different divisions.

Action continues today and Saturday with the slew of championship games set for Sunday.