The front of the sweatshirt reads simply, “Hockey is for Everyone.” Lauralai Zink wears it proudly, believes the words with all her heart,
The 17-year-old doesn’t play the game, but lives and breathes it. She eagerly shares her passion and now, courtesy of the National Hockey League, will have the opportunity to do so on a national stage.
A Normal West High School senior, Zink has been selected to serve among 27 NHL Power Players, a program in which a board of young hockey fans advise the league on hockey-related topics important to their generation. The goal is to attract more youth to the game.
“I’ve been involved with hockey my entire life,” Zink said. “It started when I was a little baby. My dad [David Zink] did stats for all the teams we’ve had in Bloomington. I’ve been coming to games since I was so tiny.
“We got the [Bloomington] Bison in town [in 2024] and that turned into a love for the stat side of the game, which kind of turned into a love for skating and being on the ice and coaching. And then getting involved in as much hockey as I could.”
Zink is a volunteer with the Central Illinois Special Hockey Association in Bloomington. She serves as a coach for the Central Illinois Courage, a team of players 5 years and older with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
She also teaches people of various ages and abilities how to skate, is an off-ice official keeping statistics for the Bison, who play in the East Coast Hockey League [ECHL], and is an intern with the Peoria Rivermen.
While the NHL Power Players program has 27 members, 12 will be returning from this year. That meant 15 spots were available for 2027 and Zink was selected from a pool of more than 1,000 applicants.
The application process began with filling out a questionnaire.
“I worried about my answers for weeks,” said Zink, who advanced to the second round and was asked to make a video on how to grow the NHL’s teenage fan base.
“That’s the whole point of the group … how is the NHL marketing to teenagers? Is it working? Are they receiving it? Is it growing anything?” Zink said. “I pitched an idea about the ECHL, having a lot of experience with that, and how minor league teams are more accessible to teenage fans, and I feel the NHL is just kind of ignoring the AHL [American Hockey League], the ECHL and the fan bases that they have of teenagers.”
That led to a virtual interview with an NHL representative.
“It was so nice to hear that she did stats for the [NHL’s] Seattle Kraken,” Zink said. “It was so cool to just nerd out for a second with her. Then a week-ish after my interview, I got an email that said, ‘Congratulations. You’ve made it.’ I cried. It was exciting.”
The board is composed of teenagers between 13-17 years old who, the league said, “have the opportunity to have their voice heard directly by the NHL, learn about the business side of sports and develop lasting friendships with board members.”
“We are so proud of Lauralai,” said Katie Porwick, who heads up the Central Illinois Special Hockey Association. “First of all, the fact that she is a teenager and comes out each week and volunteers her time to work with kids with special needs. For her to be recognized nationally for her dedication to the sport and growing the sport is so incredible.”
Zink relishes being part of the Learn to Skate and Central Illinois Courage programs, saying, “We have so much fun. I love teaching the little kids how to skate because at the same time, I’m still learning. It’s a mix of teaching them and that’s something I can apply to myself.’ ”
Regarding the special needs players, Zink said, “I see a lot of temper tantrums before we get on the ice, then we get out there and they’re going and you’re waving as they skate by with the biggest smiles you’ve ever seen.”
Porwick called Zink’s ability to connect “a special quality,” adding, “She does a wonderful job of treating people … meeting them where they are. She just has a great personality for working with all different types of people. I really admire that about her.”
So does Lauralai’s mother. Susie Zink is a special education teacher and Lauralai has been in her classroom for “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” over the years.
“She’s always been around students with special needs,” Susie said. “She just sees them as they are. She doesn’t see the disability as a stopping point. She sees it as maybe a place to start and then grow on.
“She has a heart for that. She has a great way of communicating with them and they trust her and she just builds that relationship with them. I hope she never loses that.”
Susie and David Zink began taking their only child to hockey games when she was in a baby carrier, Susie said. The family cheers for the St. Louis Blues, in part because David once lived in St. Louis. Lauralai plans to attend Maryville University in the St. Louis area with hopes of working in the NHL.
“I don’t know exactly what I want to do yet, but hockey is where I want to be,” she said.
Her eyes light up at the thought of it.
“She just kind of has this glow she emits when she’s talking about hockey, when she’s on the ice, when she’s working at the games,” Susie Zink said. “We all know our kids are great and we want them to be successful. But when other people see that and recognize that, it just makes your heart grow ten thousand times.”
