“Oh this might be a little tight,” he said as he rolled his shoulders.
“It’s a (size) 58,” said equipment manager Brennan Cody. “But if we need to, we can alter it.”
But the more the CHL All-Star goalie moved around in it, the more comfortable he seemed to be and later, when he sat down and told his story, you realized the pink jersey — especially on him — was a perfect fit.
Tonight the Gems are hosting a “Pink in the Rink Night” to raise awareness — and funds — to fight breast cancer.
The first 500 fans through the door for the 7:30 game will receive pink thunder sticks. Coach Brian Gratz will be in a new pink shirt and pink tie and the team will be wearing the personalized pink jerseys that will be auctioned off after the game.
The money collected will go to the Noble Circle Project, which provides information about healing alternatives for local women with cancer and The Women’s Wellness Fund, which makes it possible for women who lack funds to receive mammograms, breast ultrasounds, prostheses and prosthetic apparel.
“Breast cancer is so widespread — it touches so many families’ lives — so obviously the money will help,” Jakaitis said. “But it’s just as important to get people educated so they get screened and get those mammograms. Early detection saves lives.”
He knows because it saved his mom’s.
In the final weeks of his senior season at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., Jakaitis said his dad kept making the drive from Minnesota for his games, but his mom did not.
“They always used to travel together,” he said. “They’d come to the games, hit a couple of casinos, too. It made a good trip.
“Dad just told me mom had some work issues and wasn’t feeling that great. Then they skipped the senior banquet, too.
“They were keeping the news from me until I got done with hockey. And when I heard the word cancer, at first I did go into panic mode. But Mom explained it to me. Luckily they had caught it extremely early.
“She’s one who wasn’t into the tests and never went to the hospital unless it was a last resort, but she had a kidney stone and could barely stand and the doctor told her he wouldn’t release her until she had all the tests.
“That’s when they found breast cancer. If the doctor hadn’t insisted, maybe she wouldn’t have known for a long time and the story would be a lot different now.”
He said his mother went through “a tough road of treatments — chemotherapy, radiation, hormone therapy — and has been cancer free about three years.
Tonight, Ann Jakaitis and her husband, Stan, will be at the game. Jeff said it will be the first time his mom will see him play in almost three years.
His girlfriend, Jenn Rigsbee, and their 4½-month-old son Liam will be here from Myrtle Beach, S.C., as well.
“It’s the first time all of us have been together since our boy was born,” he said. “It’ll be fun. We really have something to celebrate.”
On this Pink in the Rink weekend, he wasn’t just talking about the birth of his son.
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