fundraise

by “super STEVE” COONAN

In early 2021, after being forced from the rink for nearly 2 months, “super Steve” Coonan, hockey coach & founder of the Rosiepups project, gained re-entry into his beloved, local arena…Minnetonka ice arena. Finally, he was able to let his two left skates gallop freely. immediately, he was back to his usual form: poorly timed pinches, winded backchecks & full palms up when teammates miss his knee-high passes.

Yep, it’s These on-ice tangibles that keep us coming back to the rink. yet, after leaving the barn his first skate back, it was clear to him the biggest thing he had been missing was the off-ice intangibles; community. the overall takeaway: he left feeling incredibly fortunate to have hit the ice - and the locker room - that day and the other innumerable skates over the years alongside such great people. this manifested a realization: So many more of our community members are still unable to play. As a coach, it is especially hard to see kiddos still off the ice suffering - feeling isolated and disconnected.

so, after reflecting on all of this, he came up with a idea to bring his brethren’s lunchtime hockey experience full-circle: a 10-week lunchtime mini-league, titled “the 1st invitational Puck 4 pups Lunchtime hockey Championship FOR CHARITY”. wE’ll play puck and in turn our time in community will raise funds to send therapy dog visits and gifts to at-risk, isolated kids.

not only will the series give us a midweek stretch but IT will remind us on how much fun our game and how lucky we are to play it. Most importantly, it allows us to focus on and find ways to lift up other members in our hockey community - on- and off-ice - that cannot.

we hope you’ll join us, superstar!

Feelin’ super,

Steve, Kaylee & Rose Coonan