Two Flyers trainers sue ownership over cancer diagnosis.

Two long time staff members have made serious accusations against the Philadelphia Flyers.

According to a report from Crossing Broad, two long time members of the Flyers' staff, Jim McCrossin, 64, Flyers Director of Medical Services, who joined the team in 2000, and assistant athletic trainer Sal Raffa, 42, who joined the team in 2004, are suing Comcast and others following a pair of rare cancer diagnoses that they now claim came as a result of the team's negligence

Both men worked side by side at the Flyers' training facility in Voorhees, New Jersey for the past 18 years and the fact that their rare diagnoses came just a few months apart seems like quite the coincidence. McCrossin developed essential thrombocythemia and myeloproliferative neoplasm as well as a terminal blood cancer known as myelofibrosis while Raffa also developed thrombocythemia.

As for why they are holding the Flyers and Comcast responsible in this matter? Here is the explanation from Crossing Broad:

After exhaustive research, the pair allege the contraction of these diseases was the result of excessive exposure to cancer-causing carcinogens that are emitted from Zambonis, used to cut and clean the ice surface at the Flyers practice facility, and the result of the training room, where they have worked for the past two decades, butting up against the Zamboni room where these carcinogenic chemicals were potentially ingested extensively due to inappropriate ventilation or through a shared drainage system.

The Flyers organization issued the following statement in response:

“The safety of our employees and guests at the Flyers Training Center and all of our facilities is always a top priority for us. We have looked into the allegations made by Jim McCrossin and Sal Raffa over the course of several months, and, based on that, believe that their claims have no merit. Beyond that, we cannot comment further given that this matter is in litigation.”

The law firm that will now represent McCrossin and Raffa in this litigation have now filed a 27 page complaint on behalf of their clients and what comes next will likely be a very lengthy legal process for all of those involved.