Report: Red Wing reveals his mother is battling cancer.

A young National Hockey League defenseman has revealed that he is currently dealing with an extremely tough battle off the ice. 

24-year-old Detroit Red Wings defenseman has not made his personal struggles public, but as part of the Hockey Fights Cancer initiative he shared the tragic story that his been his life the past several months.

"Personally, my mom is fighting cancer right now," said Detroit Red Wings defenseman Xavier Ouellet as per Mlive.com. "Kind of around it a little bit. It's something that affects a lot of people. I think it's a good thing that we do something like that around the league and this game tonight means a lot to me."

While Oulett is only now sharing the story, he also revealed that this is something he has been dealing with for several months now.

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"It's been a couple months and trying to go day to day," Ouellet said. "It's something that's really hard to deal with. There's a lot of people affected by it. It's a really sensitive subject for everyone."

Most people have either lost a loved one to cancer or know someone they love who has lost a loved one to cancer so it's easy to relate with the pain Ouellet is going through right now. As a result of her cancer Ouellet's mother has been unable to attend his games. 

We certainly hope that Ouelett's mom will make a full recovery and will once again be able to watch her son play live for many years to come.