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Koop’s Great Grandpa Celebrated 103rd Brithday Watching Him Play

Born in Ukraine 103 years ago, Dan Koop celebrated his birthday on Tuesday in a very special way.

Dan Koop is a great grandfather to Steinbach Pistons forward Will Koop and follows his great grandson’s hockey career closely. Will Koop says it means a lot for him that his great grandpa can come out to his games and support him.

“It’s sometimes tough to go to games, he can’t make it all the time but he tries to come out as much as possible. He’s been to three or four games this year already so that’s quite a bit. He always supports me, he probably knows my stats better than I do, he always follows me and how I’ve been doing.”

Dan Koop came out to watch his great grandson’s Pistons playoff game on Tuesday and Will says it’s amazing to see the effort it takes for him to be out in the stands and to focus on the game. He adds his relationship with his great grandpa has grown over the past couple years through his hockey career and is thankful for how encouraging he is.

“Just having the support all the time and letting me know when I do really well and keep me motivated and keep on going. His dream is to see a Koop in an NHL jersey one day so I guess I got a lot of work cut out for me, it might take me a while so he might have to live a lot longer.”

This is Will’s first year playing junior A with the Pistons and loves when his great grandpa can be there in the stands to watch.