by Jordan Conn | AHL On The Beat
Every young hockey player can sign up to have a life with the Providence Bruins forward Riley Tufte.
He won two NCAA national championships and scored 93 professional hockey goals, including one for the Boston Bruins this season. However, he has overcome many difficulties to get to where he is.
A native of Coon Rapids, Minn., Tufte fell in love with the sport as a child, skating on frozen ponds and outdoor rinks with his two older brothers and studying sports at St. Cloud State University where his uncle was the head coach.
When he was 11 years old, Tufte was playing for Blaine Peewee, when he noticed something was wrong.
“I was pretty thirsty all the time,” said Tufte, who won a national championship for his hometown team at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. “I would go from the ice to the bench and drink
a whole bottle of water and you still stay dry. I couldn’t get enough water from me. I couldn’t stop going to the bathroom, every five minutes. I think I lost about 20 pounds. I felt sluggish and tired
time.”
His mother, a nurse at North Memorial Hospital, saw some of the symptoms and brought him to St. Mary’s Children’s Hospital. She was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease
a disease in which the immune system destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, leading to less insulin production and causing hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar.
For a boy who dreamed of playing hockey at the highest level, this was tough news.
Doctors told Tufte that he needed to “take it down” and that he might not be able to compete as much as he would like.
Tufte was able to learn more about his diagnosis from one of his peewee teammates who also had Type 1 diabetes.
“I was actually asking him questions about diabetes three weeks before I was diagnosed. It was nice to have a partner, especially at that young age, who was going through the same things as you.”
The diabetes diagnosis didn’t stop Tufte from playing professional hockey, but it changed the way he had to deal with his life. He began taking extra precautions when turning the ice on and off to make sure his body was not only ready for sports, but everyday life.
“I was pricking my finger 10 times a day,” Tufte said. “I was kicking myself every time I ate or drank something with carbs or sugar. There’s a lot that goes into it. It’s a game of keeping your blood sugar level because you don’t want it to go too high or too low. Eat at the right time and stick to it consistently. It was challenging, but as you do it every day, you understand how you get your body better and you feel better.”
Shortly after his diagnosis, Tufte received a letter from Toby Petersenthen the Dallas Stars forward, who also has Type 1 diabetes. Petersen’s book inspired Tufte to follow his passion again
he helped him to see someone facing the same disease achieving his goals.
After seven years, Tufte was drafted in the first round (25th overall) by Dallas. After four seasons in the organization, he signed with the Colorado Avalanche as a free agent in the summer of 2023, at the same time Petersen was hired as the Avalanche’s talent coach.
“We got to talk about everything, including the letter he wrote to me when I was 11. Now, he’s the coach of the Texas Stars. It’s a small world. Everything goes back and it’s a really good story.”
Now in his second season with the Bruins organization, Tufte carries a blue bag emblazoned with “DIABEAUTY” on the bench with him every time he takes the ice for practices and games.
“Someone called me ‘Diabeauty’ when I was younger and I thought that was a cool name, so I just stuck with it. When I was in Texas, my coach actually made me a (bag).
It was always about being a hockey player for Tufte, who posted 0.72 points per game in the 2024-25 season with the Providence Bruins, the highest number of his AHL career. This season,
he has 23 points in 23 games and ranks third on the team with 11 goals.
The now 6-foot-6, 233-pound forward was pondering what to say to his 11-year-old self.
“The message is don’t give up,” he said. “Days can be difficult, there are good days and bad days. Everyone goes through them. Especially diabetes, some days are better than others. I would say keep grinding through everything.”
