Bishop to skate with SNC hockey team

DE PERE - A Catholic bishop from Chicago nicknamed the “Holy Goalie” is set to skate with the St. Norbert College hockey team.

The school said Thomas Paprocki, auxiliary bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, would skate with the Green Knights Thursday at 3:15 p.m. at the Cornerstone Community Center. Afterward, he is expected to address the team about sports and faith. Paprocki is also expected to attend the team’s game against Bethel University Friday. The game starts at 7 p.m.

Paprocki plays in an over-30 hockey league and he also ran his 15th marathon last October in Dublin, Ireland. In a news release, Paprocki said he was looking forward to getting in goal and having the Green Knights "throw some pucks at me."

Paprocki, a former classmate and friend of Bishop David Ricken of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, is the first of several Catholic Athletes for Christ board members expected to speak to St. Norbert athletes. St. Norbert pastor James Barniak is a member of the board.