Before the 1970s, hockey uniform numbers typically ranged from 1 to 31 or so, rarely past number 35. Nowadays they are like a Jackie Wilson song: They’ve gone higher and higher.
Charlie Schoen wears No. 82, the highest number on St. Thomas men’s hockey team this season. After the team’s first-ever game at Lee & Peggy Anderson Arena, we asked him why.
“In junior hockey I was 28, [but] at my previous school there’s an upperclassman that was 28 and I don’t like to switch numbers that much. So, I just flipped them,” said the 5’10” senior forward.
After three seasons at Arizona State (60 games, 13 goals, 22 assists), Schoen transferred to St. Thomas. The Andover, MN native is studying business at the St. Paul school that has a world-class reputation for its business curriculum.
“I’m doing general business, but I want to switch over to finance,” said Schoen. “I feel like, especially being at this university, being able to get a degree like that will really set me up for the future.
“I’m super grateful to be here.”
“So, I’m going to try to make the most of being a student athlete and try to get the best degree I can get,” he stressed.
After three seasons playing in the Southwest, being much closer to home is close to ideal, Schoen pointed out proudly. “It means the world to me,” he continued.
“I have a great support system, and to be able to be a lot closer to them and be able to see them on a weekly basis has been good for me. I’m just super grateful for the opportunity that Coach [Rico] Biasi and the rest of the staff have given me,” said Schoen, the team’s only Black player. “I’m super grateful to be here.”
Schoen says that the sport he loves is moving forward, diversity speaking, to seeing more players that look like him.
“The game has grown a lot since I’ve started playing since I was four, and I’m 24 now,” said Schoen. “I’m definitely seeing a lot more people of color actually playing the game, which is a great sight. I think there’s a lot of people that just come to a game for the first time, they’re so excited even if they don’t know what’s going on.
“I feel like hockey is such an exciting sport — it’s good for all walks of life to be a part of it. Hockey’s been really good to me,” he stressed. “It’s brought me a lot of places, and I’m grateful that it’s brought me here, and just happy to see that it’s growing.”
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.