the story

by “super STEVE” COONAN

In early 2021, after being forced from the rink for nearly 2 months, “super Steve” Coonan, hockey coach & co-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 missed his knee-high passes.

it’s These on-ice tangibles that keep us coming back to the rink. yet, after leaving the barn that first skate back, it was clear to Steve that the biggest thing that he had been missing was the off-ice intangibles; community & togetherness.

For this reason, he left feeling incredibly fortunate to have been on ice and in the locker room that day (and the other innumerable skates over the years) alongside such great people. Yet, He also felt a bit guilty as So many of our community members are still unable to play, including many of the kids that he coaches and serves at rosiepups.org. it is especially hard to see kiddos still off the ice suffering - feeling isolated and disconnected.

in reflection, he came up with a concept to bring his existing lunchtime hockey experience full-circle: a 10-week lunchtime hockey mini-league. At the 1st annual Puck 4 pups Lunchtime hockey Championship FOR CHARITY, wE’ll play covid-conscious puck and in turn our time in community will raise funds to send therapy dog e-visits and their toy super-pups to at-risk, isolated kids.

not only will this lunchtime series give us a midweek stretch but IT will remind us how much fun our game is and how lucky we are to play it. therein, Most importantly, it allows us to give back and focus on other members in our hockey community that cannot.

we hope you’ll join us, either on-ice or as a fundraiser!

Feelin’ super,

Steve, Kaylee & mama Rosie Coonan

caped co-founders of RosiePups