2016 IHHF Bio Series: Steve Konroyd

By Administrator on January 22, 2017 • ( 1 )

Steve Konroyd

Players Category

50 years ago, Steve Konroyd played his first ever hockey game as a 5 year old at the East York arena near downtown Toronto. He wasn’t very good, but he loved the smell of the rink and the guys he was playing with. The game of hockey has had a firm hold on him ever since. The son of immigrant parents, a British mom and a Polish dad, he spent his hours as a kid playing hockey whenever he could, whether it was on the streets or at the rink. After playing Junior A hockey with the Oshawa Generals, he was drafted in the 2^nd round of the NHL draft by the Calgary Flames. After 5 years in Calgary, he was traded to the New York Islanders. While in New York, he met a girl from Chicago that he fell madly in love with. They were married in the summer of ’88, and in a welcome turn of events, he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks on November 25, 1988.

After 4 years of playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, he rounded out his career by playing with the Hartford Whalers, Detroit Red Wings, and Ottawa Senators. My dad realized that after 14 years in the NHL that he had lost a step and it was time to start a new chapter in his life. Broadcasting became his new passion, and after serving as the first ever radio color commentator for the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996, he went on to be the TV face of the San Jose Sharks and Columbus Blue Jackets. It’s been 12 years since he became the pre- and post-game analyst on Chicago Blackhawks broadcasts on Comcast SportsNet and WGN-TV. He also does the color commentating on about 20 Blackhawks games each year.

Well, almost 30 years after he met that girl from Chicago, Steve Konroyd has 5 kids – Danielle, Emily, Declan, Braelyn and me, Stephen. The boys in his family fell in love with the game that gave so much direction to their father’s life. As a result, local hockey rinks became our home away from home. The Darien Sportsplex, home of the then “Chicago Huskies”, was the first team that he helped coach here in Illinois. The Huskies then became the Hawks, and my dad was on the ice whenever he could be. The Hawks, the Fury, the Blues, and Team Illinois are all teams that my dad helped coach and that my brother and I played on.

Ladies and Gentlemen, my Dad, Steve Konroyd.