The moment you experience that changes your life forever is impossible to forget. For Steve Carlson, a professional hockey player, he thought it was being cast as a Hanson Brother in the 1977 film “Slap Shot.”

“It changed my life a lot because everyone thought I was tough,” Carlson said. “I wasn’t a fighter. I was more of a skill player. My two brothers, they were the enforcers, the goons or whatever.”

But it turns out Carlson was wrong. He's about as tough as they come.

What You Need To Know

  • Steve Carlson, one of the Hansons from "Slap Shot," was diagnosed with throat cancer a year ago

  • Following chemotherapy and diet changes, he was given a clean bill of health

  • Carlson shared his story while visiting Lake Placid as part of the Adirondack Film Festival's showings of "Slap Shot"

It was about a year ago when he was diagnosed with throat cancer.

“You can’t do anything. You get home and you are so tired you can’t do anything. You can’t even walk up a flight of stairs," he remembered.

But Carlson, like his on-screen Hanson character, is indeed a fighter.

“I said, ‘I’m going to beat this thing. I’m going to beat it. I’m not going to sit down and watch this take me,’ ” he said.

Carlson and his wife Vicki documented that fight on the Hanson Brothers’ social media pages.

It included three hours a day on the road for chemotherapy.

“Radiation was at 7:15 every morning, Monday through Friday,” he recalled. “When you have a very strong person, and a great caretaker like I had, you’re very grateful for what you have in life.”

In the 45 years since “Slap Shot” was released, Carlson had helped raise $28 million for various charities. But he said he now truly understands what support means.

“The support we got from all over the United States, Canada and Europe was unbelievable. It was so humbling,” he said. “They said ‘all the years that you gave us smiles, now we want to give you a smile.’ The support, the cards, the prayers, it really made a difference in my recovery.”

During his most recent screening, Steve was told he’d need to continue to be checked every six months, but he had won his fight. After a change in diet and quitting drinking, Carlson is now cancer-free.

As he made his way to Lake Placid, shortly after getting that news, Steve saw his role in life, and his attitude about it, change. There was a new-found joy in recognizing the joy he and his fellow Hanson Brothers brought to so many.

“I treasure every day I have now," he said with a smile.