He played college ice hockey for the Boston University Terriers, where he was a standout player, and is the school's all-time leading scorer.
He attempted a brief comeback in 1998 after an 18-month battle with the disease, for which the NHL awarded him the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, before retiring to serve as an assistant coach for a year with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
[2] Following her death early in his freshman year, Cullen contemplated returning to his Ontario home, but was convinced by his father to continue with both school and hockey.
[1] Cullen was a standout with BU; he was named the East Coast Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year in 1983–84 after leading his team in scoring with 56 points.
When the Sabres failed to offer him a contract, Cullen signed with the Flint Spirits of the International Hockey League (IHL) for the 1987–88 season.
After the Penguins won their first Stanley Cup that season, Phil Bourque later said it "broke his heart" that Cullen was not able to share in that championship.
[3] He initially accepted an invitation to join the Canadian team at the 1991 Canada Cup, but subsequently chose not to participate as his contract had expired, leading to greater insurance concerns.
[7] Still without a contract when the 1991–92 season began, Cullen missed the first four games before signing a four-year deal with Hartford worth a total of $4 million.
[9] Cullen enjoyed immediate success with linemates Shawn Burr and Alexander Selivanov as the trio combined to score 130 points and helped lead the Lightning to the first playoff appearance in franchise history.
[10] After two months of quietly dealing with his symptoms, Cullen's wife finally called team trainers and asked them to check into his illness.
[2] The tumor was gone by September 1997, but a precautionary test prior to training camp revealed that Cullen still had cancer cells in his body.
He missed the entire 1997–98 NHL season as he continued to battle the disease, while his teammates wore a uniform patch with his #12 in support throughout the year.
[10] On one day during his treatments, as his wife was wheeling him down a hospital corridor, Cullen went into cardiac arrest, requiring doctors to use a defibrillator to revive him.
[12] He was named to the roster and was greeted with a loud standing ovation by the fans in Tampa Bay when he was introduced prior to their season opening game.
[13] The Lightning assigned him to the IHL's Cleveland Lumberjacks, but also gave him the option of retiring and taking up a position as an assistant coach.
[20] Unwilling to spend so much time away from his family, he left the Lightning in 1999 and settled in the Atlanta area, joining his brother's car dealership in Jonesboro, Georgia.
However, he owned the dealership for less than two years before Chrysler closed him down as part of its recovery plan in response to the Automotive industry crisis of 2008–2010.