Sad news on Tuesday for the hockey world.

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According to his son Eric, former Buffalo Sabres forward and NHL star Dale Hawerchuk passed away after battling with cancer. He was 57.

Hawerchuk was battling a resurgence of his cancer according to his son Eric, after previously combating the disease.

If you grew up on the 80's and 90's NHL, you know about Dale Hawerchuk and how great a player he was.

He was taken first overall in 1981 by the Winnipeg Jets and spent the first nine seasons of his career there, surpassing the 40-goal total seven times.

After Winnipeg, Hawerchuk spent five seasons with the Sabres, from 1990-1995, where he was part of a powerful offense that consisted of Pat LaFontaine and Alexander Mogilny. Hawerchuk got at least 86 total points in four of his five seasons in Buffalo.

He finished his career with the St. Louis Blues and Philadelphia Flyers. He retired in 1997.

Hawerchuk was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.

I barely missed watching Hawerchuk play, but my dad and older brother will tell you how good he was. He was an all-around forward that could score goals, but also could be a great setup man for other goal scorers. He probably deserves more credit than he gets today.

We're sending our prayers and thoughts to Hawerchuk's family. Gone far too soon.

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