Hinsdale Magazine | Sports
Juli Konroyd and son Stephen Konroyd, 19
Hockey on Ice Hinsdale family's hockey tradition sustains them during COVID-19 BY SCOTT JONLICH | HINSDALE MAGAZINE
P
rofessional and youth sports programs have come to a halt since the Coronavirus pandemic put the economy and our society in uncertainty. Hinsdale-area resident Stephen Konroyd, son of retired Chicago Blackhawks player Steve Konroyd, is in a holding pattern, with the NHL season having been suspended since March 12. “I feel bad for hockey fans and those college hockey seniors," said Steve Konroyd, who works as a pre- and postgame analyst and color commentator for Blackhawks games. "I miss it, and I hope
we can get started up again at some point. We missed the best part of the [NHL] year, because the Blackhawks had about a dozen games to go, and typically that last stretch is kind of like playoff hockey.” Konroyd said the Blackhawks were on the “outside looking in as far as the playoff spot goes.” “They were playing some good hockey, and made some trades at the trade deadline," he said. "The guys weren’t willing to give up." At the same time, 19-year-old Stephen Konroyd was playing his second year of junior hockey in Victoria, British
Columbia, when he got traded to the Boston Jr. Bruins of the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC). The 5-foot, 11-inch, 175-pound forward plans on returning to Boston in the hopes of earning a scholarship. The youngest of the five Konroyd children, Stephen has dreams of following in his father’s footsteps. “Unfortunately, I never saw my dad play in the NHL, as I was born in 2000," he said. "But I always wanted to follow in his footsteps and play at a high level of hockey, and that’s what I have been dreaming of my whole life.” HINSDALE MAGAZINE | HinsdaleMag.com
63
