When he’s between the pipes, Luke Chrzan focuses on keeping the puck out of the net.

On the national stage, however, he’s looking to score big.

Luke Chrzan

The hearing impaired nine-year-old netminder is one of six finalists for Sports Illustrated Kids SportsKid of the Year.



He hopes to win so he can raise awareness of the American Hearing Impaired Hockey Association (AHIHA), which provides deaf and hard of hearing hockey players the opportunity to improve their hockey skills.

Luke has worn hearing aids his entire life, but has never let that affect his love of hockey. A simple approach has served him well while protecting his crease: “I don’t need to hear anything, I just need to stop the puck."

The North Middletown native plays for both the NJ Titans Squirt Grey squad and the AHIHA, and trains at the FuturePro goalie school with Princeton goalie coach George Bosak.

Besides hockey, Luke plays baseball and basketball. He’s an A student and dreams of being the first hearing-impaired goalie for the Devils. (He even wears No. 35 like Cory Schneider.)

"It only takes one or two games for kids and coaches to realize that I love the game of hockey and I love to win,” Luke says. “But most importantly I’m there to demonstrate to everyone that it is okay to be different!"

Every vote helps and casting your ballot is easy: visit sikids.com/skoty, click on the circle next to Luke’s name, then hit the “Submit Your Vote” button at the bottom of the page. Voting closes Monday at 12 p.m. ET.



#Vote4Luke – because We’re All Devils Inside!