New Snider Hockey ambassador Sean Couturier helps break ground for Kensington outdoor rink

The plans were announced in February, with the Flyers, Ed Snider Youth Hockey and Education, and Flyers Charities all joining efforts to fund the rink.

Members of Snider Youth Hockey, as well as speakers Kathryn Ott Lovell, Scott Tharp, Valerie Camillo, and Sean Couturier, break ground on a new ball hockey rink in Kensington.Read moreGiana Han

by Giana Han

Published Sept. 15, 2022, 12:36 p.m. ET

Flyers center Sean Couturier estimates that he cost his parents and his friends’ parents several hundred dollars worth of damages when he was a young kid playing ball hockey.

“Maybe a couple grand,” Couturier admitted.

Ice hockey practices and games only happened every other day, so the young hockey lover looked to fill in the other days of the week with street hockey, ball hockey, and shooting practice. Occasionally, windows were a casualty of the young Couturier’s enthusiasm.

“Yeah — it’s happened a couple of times,” Couturier said. “Some friends’ parents’ windows. Those are the worst, when you go to a buddy’s and break something at their place. It was always an embarrassing moment.”

On Wednesday, Couturier helped break the ground for a new outdoor hockey rink so that the kids of the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia can play hockey without the fear of breaking windows. He was accompanied by representatives of the Flyers, Ed Snider Youth Hockey and Education, and Flyers Charities, as well as members of the community.

Ed Snider Hockey Youth & Education and Flyers Charities revealed their plans for the new facility in February, and Flyers Charities donated $400,000 to the cause. The outdoor rink is an addition to the Scanlon Rec Center, which already has an ice rink that Snider Youth Hockey plays out of.

“It’s to try to get more kids involved, have more options for kids,” Couturier said. “Obviously, skating is not easy for anyone, and it’s hard to learn, so if some more kids can just play hockey outside and have fun and keep going to school and stay out of trouble, it’s another way to help out.”

This season, every player on the Flyers roster will be paired up with a local charitable organization. Couturier announced at Wednesday’s event that he will be working with Snider Hockey. He has been involved with previous Snider events and said his relationship with the late Ed Snider makes it more personal for him.