The official site of the Torch, the student-run newspaper at Glenbrook North High School.

Torch

The official site of the Torch, the student-run newspaper at Glenbrook North High School.

Torch

The official site of the Torch, the student-run newspaper at Glenbrook North High School.

Torch

Senior Duncan Coogan plays defender against Glenbrook North hockey alumni at the Northbrook Sports Center on May 7 to raise money for LUNGevity in honor of former player Mark Beban. He said he played in the game to help bring the community together for a common cause through hockey. Photo by Gabe Weininger. Click to enlarge.
Senior Duncan Coogan plays defender against Glenbrook North hockey alumni at the Northbrook Sports Center on May 7 to raise money for LUNGevity in honor of former player Mark Beban. He said he played in the game to help bring the community together for a common cause through hockey. Photo by Gabe Weininger. Click to enlarge.

When senior Duncan Coogan was about to hop in the shower one February night after hockey practice, his parents called him downstairs for a “shocking” phone call.

On the other end of the call was Cliff Koroll, president of the Chicago Blackhawk Alumni Association, calling to inform Coogan that he was one of three recipients of the Keith Magnuson Blackhawk Alumni Scholarship.

According to Michael Mullins, secretary of the Chicago Blackhawk Alumni Association, the association was started in 1987 by former Blackhawk players and businessmen who “started to think about life after hockey.” They created the group as a business network and as a way to stay connected to the Blackhawks.

When Blackhawk Alumni thought about how they could give back to the Chicago community, they started giving out scholarships to exceptional students who play hockey, Mullins said. The association awards each of three recipients $5,000 per year of undergraduate education to pay for tuition.

Recipients can join fellow Blackhawk Alumni at association functions and can help choose future winners.

Coogan said that receiving the scholarship brings a recipient into a “special club.” He said that members will do a variety of activities together, including business networking, attending Blackhawks games and playing pickup games of hockey.

Mullins said the scholarship is not awarded based on an applicant’s hockey abilities but rather on “who [the applicant is] as a person.” The association looks at an applicant’s grades, community service, letter of recommendation, financial need and essay explaining how hockey has impacted the applicant’s life.

Alumnus (‘08) Adam Goldblatt was also a recipient of the scholarship. Beyond helping him financially with college tuition, Goldblatt said that Koroll’s constant check-ins pushed him to improve his academic performance in college so he could represent himself and the organization well.         Coogan said after he found out he won the scholarship, “everything happened so fast.” That week, he was able to join other members of the association for a pickup game of hockey.

“It was very humbling to be out there on the ice with former Blackhawks and scholarship recipients,” said Coogan. “They’re a great group of people and it’s a blast to play hockey with them.”

Coogan also went to the United Center for Media Day, where he was interviewed by sources from the Northbrook Tower. He was also given a full tour of the Blackhawks’ facilities and watched players practice.

Later in March, he missed a day of school for a banquet at the McDonald’s Corporate Headquarters where he and the other recipients spoke to the attendees and various awards were given.

Although Coogan does not expect to play beyond club or intramural level in college, he thinks being a part of the association will help him stay involved in the hockey community.

“[My teammates] thought it was a really incredible feat,” Coogan said. “They always poked jokes at me saying how I’m going to play for the Blackhawks, and now this happened, so it’s all really incredible.”