Roseville hockey community mourns beloved skate shop worker killed in head-on crash
ROSEVILLE, Minn. — Another tragic blow for a hard-hit hockey community. It's the third person they've lost in less than a year.
John Corazzo was a familiar smiling face at the Roseville Ice Arena. He was killed in the head-on crash Sunday morning.
The Minnesota hockey life is so much more than the players and coaches — Corazzo was the unsung hero in the skate shop and on the Zamboni.
"The thing about John was when someone asked him to do a favor, his answers was, 'What can I do for you?' He was right there for those people and the kids would see it," said rink manager Kevin Elm.
Now the kids will see Corazzo's skates in the trophy case — a pair of rentals he used years ago and never wanted to give up.
"There are so many things, I'm almost still at a loss for words to explain how hard it's going to be to not have a person like that around here anymore," Elm said.
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Roseville hockey has already endured two other recent tragedies — youth coach Michael Brasel was shot and killed last spring. Then, in the summer, a star alum goaltender, Jori Jones, was also killed in a car crash.
Gretchen Hopeman is a mom of three hockey playing boys and the Roseville Hockey Association's president.
"For the Pee Wees and Bantams, for the high school players, hockey is the outlet to get away from the social stresses and to have fun. This is heavy. This is a life lesson they're not prepared for," reporter Jonah Kaplan said.
"No, and no one's really prepared for it. Our kids are resilient. They absorb, and I feel like they've grown in ways they didn't expect at a young age, but I feel like they are becoming great pillars of our community," Hopeman said.
Joe Carlson, Corazzo's best friend and fellow Roseville High School alum also died in the crash. Corazzo was Carlson's best man.
