St. George CES student goes viral
Cole Ricci is really into hockey arenas
The five-year-old kindergarten student at St. George Catholic Elementary School spends hours drawing pictures of hockey arenas that he’s seen on TV or in photos.
The game isn’t much of a draw, for Cole but he’s “obsessed” with hockey rinks, said his mom Katie Mallinson, who recently put out a call on X for people to send her photos of hockey arenas to share with Cole.
One thing led to another, and NHL teams began sending photos of their arenas to the youngster.
“Could we interest him in the Shark Tank?” asked the San Jose Sharks in a response that included a photo of their arena.
“An ALMOST live look at the greatest barn in hockey!” said the Columbus Blue Jackets, noting the score had changed between the time the photo was taken the post went up.
Over in BC, the Canucks offered a cheery “Hello from Rogers Arena in Vancouver,” along with a waving hand emoji. Along the way, Cole’s story was picked up by Good Morning America, and by People Magazine, which featured him in their human interest section.
Cole’s obsession with hockey arenas is a familiar aspect of people who live with autism, who often have fixations on specific topics, items, or activities.
Katie said she’s thrilled with the outpouring of support for Cole. We’re hoping we can nudge a few more teams to share their arena to really make his day.
If you have photos or videos taken in a hockey arena that you can share with Cole through his mom, please send them to [email protected].