Running a tournament, you often don’t see every play or every goal. I remember the Eastview/Wayzata game was a low scoring competitive game. The winner moved to the Winner’s Bracket to play against the top echelon teams in the state.  As it has been documented, Patrick scored for the Lightning that day on a wrist shot from the point that seemed to pass through 5 or 6 bodies and sticks before it went in! His goal was scored at the Gold Medal Arena in Brainerd. An arena originally built with boards from the rink in which the Gold Medal was won by the U.S. in 1980 in Lake Placid, NY.

At the same time, St. Michael-Albertville and Eden Prairie were playing next door in the Civic Center.  While catching a part of that game,  I learned that “a player was injured” next door. And within a minute of that news I heard the cry of an Eastview mom with tears in her eyes to "get an ambulance." At that point, I knew this day would be a day I would never forget. Moments later, I witnessed a team of well-trained emergency responders do everything they could to save Patrick. I can’t erase the visual of Patrick connected to an automated chest compression machine and his Mom, Gayle, calmly cheering him on as the rest of the fans and players sat silently and prayed for him to pull through.

Patrick didn’t make it. An autopsy found that his heart was defective due to an undetected degenerative disease. He died that day on the ice with his mom, dad, little brother and best friends by his side.

What transpired afterwards was a very dark time. The sadness of losing a young life, canceling a tournament, and working with the proper authorities to make sure everyone was taken care of in a tough situation. In an instant, every news agency in the upper Midwest wanted “the story” – my phone line blew up with unknown numbers, my house was called and visited back in the Twin Cities. All I really cared about was the Schoonover family, giving the correct statement to the press and seeing my own 14 year old son, wife and daughters. In hindsight, with the assistance of my own guardian angels, Jim Dahline and Kurt Rolling, we navigated through the day and night as best as we could.

On the Sunday after Patrick's passing, the community in Apple Valley needed a way to show their support for the Schoonover family. That night, Patrick's brother Matthew, had a home game. Word traveled fast and by the time the game started, Matthew and his Eastview teammates were playing Eagan in front of a packed house.

The visitation and the funeral were expected to be very difficult for all parties involved. So many emotions raced through everyone’s head. There isn’t a page in the Life Manual for how to attend a young person’s funeral (trust me, I have checked a few thousand times this past year).  But these two days are oddly the fondest memories I have of this sad situation.

The visitation was an amazing out pouring of love and support from both the Eastview and local hockey communites. To witness busloads of teams showing up in their jerseys to support the Schoonovers was refreshing and gratifying to see. The funeral was a celebration of Patrick’s life. His good friend and Eastview teammate, Luke Barron, delivered an amazing speech accounting their great friendship and how much Patrick meant to him and their team. Patrick’s neighbor, Pierre Matte, gave a detailed description of what made Patrick so special. We learned that Patrick was caring, sweet and most of all, very funny. The highlight came when Pierre piped in crowd noise and announced Patrick a starter on Heaven's Hockey squad.

With hundreds of people sporting home white jerseys and laughter in the church, for a short time the pain subsided, for this we alI have Luke and Pierre to thank.

Just like Patrick was in his earthly life, caring of others and in tune with what was important. So is his heavenly life. The Schoonover family has started and are actively involved with the Patrick Schoonover Heart Foundation with the purpose of working diligently to pre-screen as many kids for heart disease as possible. Patrick’s Father Mike told YHH what their vision was , “it’s simple…we will continue to screen until people stop dying from SCA (Sudden Cardiac Arrest).”

Just this year, the Foundation has sponsored two screenings that have tested nearly 500 young people. With tens of thousands of dollars invested in the future of testing…the Foundation is poised to win the battle over heart diseases. “At our first two screenings we have screened and found numerous people with heart ailments…we are very excited about the possibilities that lay ahead," said Schoonover.

Friday at this year's Blue Ox, we remembered Patrick for his goal against Wayzata and honored him and his family with a moment of silence prior to each game on Friday. YHH also made a permanent tribute on our traveling trophy with the following inscription:

In Memory of Patrick Schoonover

July 16, 2000 – November 14, 2014

Patrick will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him but he will never be forgotten for his compassion for others and his passion for hockey. Patrick is still winding up and letting it fly and smiling the entire time. He is an inspiration and a great example of why no matter what…live for today, plan for tomorrow and play for Partick tonight!

#96

#PlayForPatrick