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A dream realized
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| La Porte native Amanda Keeton poses with the Stanley Cup and Chicago Blackhawks’ coach Joel Quenneville recently at a hard-of-hearing hockey camp in Illinois. Photo provided |
La Porte native and huge Blackhawks’ fan Amanda Keeton holds the Stanley Cup recently as part of hard-of-hearing hockey camp
By Zack Eldridge
Staff Writer 1-866-362-2167, Ext. 13869 zeldridge@heraldargus.com
LA PORTE — Amanda Keeton remembers going to school dressed up as a hockey player for career day in third grade.
While everyone else wanted to be a doctor or a firefighter, she wanted to be a hockey player.
Keeton also recalls watching Chicago Blackhawks games on TV with her dad and grandpa growing up.
Then her dad took her to some Blackhawks game when she was in elementary school and she became a die-hard fan of the team.
So when she got the unparalleled opportunity to see the Stanley Cup recently with Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, the La Porte native was understandably floored.
“One word: Amazing,” Keeton wrote in an e-mail. “I did not believe my coach at first when she told us that the Stanley Cup was on its way. I just got out of a three-hour morning practice and did not even have time to take a shower. The other players and I quickly got out of our equipment and threw on clothes and got in line to see the Cup. By then, I did not care about not taking a shower because I was seeing the Cup, a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Keeton, who’s hard of hearing, got to do this through a deaf hockey camp called AHIHA, or American Hearing Impaired Hockey Association. It’s been running for the last 37 years and allows deaf and hard-of-hearing hockey players to come together and learn/develop hockey skills.
AHIHA is a week-long camp that is held annually in Chicago. There are morning practices and off-ice training followed by special clinics in the afternoon, and games at night. AHIHA also trains potential deaflympic hockey players and hosts the tryouts for the USA Deaflympics team.
This year marked Keeton’s fifth year in the AHIHA, a Chicago Blackhawks charity that was originally started by the legendary Stan Mikita. The duties now, though, have been passed on to Tony Granato, another former hockey great.
Keeton didn’t start playing hockey until she was about 13 years old because that’s when she found out about AHIHA and started playing. Ever since then, Keeton played every year with various hockey teams, such as the Michiana Sting, a women’s team in South Bend, and she just finished playing with The Ohio State University women’s club hockey team, which is a Division-I program.
When it came time for Keeton to be with the coveted Stanley Cup, she couldn’t believe it. In fact, it didn’t even dawn on her to kiss it, a practice that has become customary.
“I was going to kiss it but I was too excited that the Stanley Cup was in front of me that I literally forgot,” Keeton said. “But I got to hold it and see the engravings of all of the past players that won the Stanley Cup. In the photo, you can see that I got to hold it. There was no way that I could lift the Cup over my head.”
She got to be with the Stanley Cup for roughly 15 to 20 minutes.
She said AHIHA wanted to make sure that every player, coach, and volunteer staffer got a chance to meet Quenneville and see the Stanley Cup.
There were more than 100 people in line to see it.
Keeton said she did not mind the short time with the Cup because she still got to meet Coach Q and see the Cup regardless.
Keeton saw the Stanley Cup and Quenneville at the Seven Bridges Ice Arena in Woodridge, Ill. It was where AHIHA, the hockey camp, was hosted.
Keeton described Quenneville’s demeanor.
“Elated. So happy,” Keeton said. “I could see that he was still ecstatic from winning the Stanley Cup. During the hockey season, he never smiles (he’s known for that) and when he arrived with the Stanley Cup that day, all he did was smile. He was very grateful and happy to share the Stanley Cup with fellow Blackhawks fans.”
Keeton added he showed up to AHIHA last year to meet a lot of the players and coaches, so it was not the first time for the players to see Quenneville.
This year was the first year for AHIHA to have a girls deaf hockey team. There were just enough deaf/hard of hearing girl hockey players to have a team, so they had additional practices together as a team and four games throughout the week.
Keeton said this was a significant event because the goal is to eventually have a women’s Deaflympics hockey team in the future. Even Mikita, who started AHIHA, came into the locker room before the first girls game and told the players how proud he was of them.
“He called us the pioneers of the women’s deaf hockey team,” Keeton said. “To me, that is right up there with meeting Coach Q and the Stanley Cup.”
When Keeton dressed up as a hockey player in third grade, she probably never envisioned being with the Stanley Cup.
However, it’s now a reality.
She got to hold the 35-pound, three-foot high trophy.
“It was huge and beautiful,” Keeton said. “I grew up seeing the best of the best winning that trophy and I got to see it and hold it myself. It was shiny and just beautiful. It was the biggest and best trophy that anyone can win in my eyes.”
While everyone else wanted to be a doctor or a firefighter, she wanted to be a hockey player.
Keeton also recalls watching Chicago Blackhawks games on TV with her dad and grandpa growing up.
Then her dad took her to some Blackhawks game when she was in elementary school and she became a die-hard fan of the team.
So when she got the unparalleled opportunity to see the Stanley Cup recently with Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, the La Porte native was understandably floored.
“One word: Amazing,” Keeton wrote in an e-mail. “I did not believe my coach at first when she told us that the Stanley Cup was on its way. I just got out of a three-hour morning practice and did not even have time to take a shower. The other players and I quickly got out of our equipment and threw on clothes and got in line to see the Cup. By then, I did not care about not taking a shower because I was seeing the Cup, a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Keeton, who’s hard of hearing, got to do this through a deaf hockey camp called AHIHA, or American Hearing Impaired Hockey Association. It’s been running for the last 37 years and allows deaf and hard-of-hearing hockey players to come together and learn/develop hockey skills.
AHIHA is a week-long camp that is held annually in Chicago. There are morning practices and off-ice training followed by special clinics in the afternoon, and games at night. AHIHA also trains potential deaflympic hockey players and hosts the tryouts for the USA Deaflympics team.
This year marked Keeton’s fifth year in the AHIHA, a Chicago Blackhawks charity that was originally started by the legendary Stan Mikita. The duties now, though, have been passed on to Tony Granato, another former hockey great.
Keeton didn’t start playing hockey until she was about 13 years old because that’s when she found out about AHIHA and started playing. Ever since then, Keeton played every year with various hockey teams, such as the Michiana Sting, a women’s team in South Bend, and she just finished playing with The Ohio State University women’s club hockey team, which is a Division-I program.
When it came time for Keeton to be with the coveted Stanley Cup, she couldn’t believe it. In fact, it didn’t even dawn on her to kiss it, a practice that has become customary.
“I was going to kiss it but I was too excited that the Stanley Cup was in front of me that I literally forgot,” Keeton said. “But I got to hold it and see the engravings of all of the past players that won the Stanley Cup. In the photo, you can see that I got to hold it. There was no way that I could lift the Cup over my head.”
She got to be with the Stanley Cup for roughly 15 to 20 minutes.
She said AHIHA wanted to make sure that every player, coach, and volunteer staffer got a chance to meet Quenneville and see the Stanley Cup.
There were more than 100 people in line to see it.
Keeton said she did not mind the short time with the Cup because she still got to meet Coach Q and see the Cup regardless.
Keeton saw the Stanley Cup and Quenneville at the Seven Bridges Ice Arena in Woodridge, Ill. It was where AHIHA, the hockey camp, was hosted.
Keeton described Quenneville’s demeanor.
“Elated. So happy,” Keeton said. “I could see that he was still ecstatic from winning the Stanley Cup. During the hockey season, he never smiles (he’s known for that) and when he arrived with the Stanley Cup that day, all he did was smile. He was very grateful and happy to share the Stanley Cup with fellow Blackhawks fans.”
Keeton added he showed up to AHIHA last year to meet a lot of the players and coaches, so it was not the first time for the players to see Quenneville.
This year was the first year for AHIHA to have a girls deaf hockey team. There were just enough deaf/hard of hearing girl hockey players to have a team, so they had additional practices together as a team and four games throughout the week.
Keeton said this was a significant event because the goal is to eventually have a women’s Deaflympics hockey team in the future. Even Mikita, who started AHIHA, came into the locker room before the first girls game and told the players how proud he was of them.
“He called us the pioneers of the women’s deaf hockey team,” Keeton said. “To me, that is right up there with meeting Coach Q and the Stanley Cup.”
When Keeton dressed up as a hockey player in third grade, she probably never envisioned being with the Stanley Cup.
However, it’s now a reality.
She got to hold the 35-pound, three-foot high trophy.
“It was huge and beautiful,” Keeton said. “I grew up seeing the best of the best winning that trophy and I got to see it and hold it myself. It was shiny and just beautiful. It was the biggest and best trophy that anyone can win in my eyes.”
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| Gies was a special person; in a better place now |
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| Beginning with stories published on the Web site Thursday, March 25, 2010, all comments will be reviewed prior to being posted. The following is criteria The Herald-Argus will follow in deeming comments suitable for posting. The Herald-Argus reserves the right to not publish any comment for any reason and is not responsible for the content of any comment that posts. If you have a question as to why your comment was not posted, please e-mail Executive Editor Chris Schable at cschable@heraldargus.com.
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Susie Spector wrote on Jun 30, 2010 10:47 PM: