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Dr. Erin Schotthoefer is more than a renowned pediatric ophthalmologist and member of the CEENTA Board of Directors. She's also an avid hockey fan and team physician for your Charlotte Checkers.
Dr. Schotthoefer had an opportunity to provide guest color commentary during the Checkers' March 30th matchup against the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. Click below to hear the full 2nd period commentary or read key highlights from her interview including her tenure at CEENTA, living in a hockey family, and why she enjoys cheering on the Checkers.
TJ Chillot: As we wind down on the Tar Heel Linen Service Intermission Report, I'd like to introduce you all to a very special guest color analyst. With me, Doctor Erin Schotthoefer. Doctor Schotthoefer, thanks so much for coming back. Second year in a row we get to have you on the broadcast.
Dr. Erin Schotthoefer: Oh, thanks for having me. It's super fun for me to be here.
TJ: It's been a lot of fun just chatting with you over the last year since we did last year's game. It was a March game I think we did last year as well. So it's almost a full calendar year. What'd you see out of that first period? We were talking kinda off mic a little bit about where you saw those goals come from.
Dr. Schotthoefer: Oh, it was a great start. So, the doctor section of the of the arena is just to the side of the players' bench, and so we had a perfect sight line for that first goal. Beautiful, beautiful goal, and then that second goal with a beautiful pass. That was great start for the Checkers.
TJ: So, for those who weren't along for the ride last year and got to know you a little bit that way, let's go ahead and reintroduce yourself and how you help the Charlotte Checkers team and what your area of specialty is and all that good stuff.
Dr. Schotthoefer: Sure. So, I'm an ophthalmologist. I'm an eye surgeon with Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat, and I've been here in Charlotte for almost eighteen years. I'm from Detroit, Michigan, so I come from a hockey city, from a hockey family. My brother played college hockey at Michigan. He was a goalie, so I'm forever a goalie fan always and sympathetic to the goalie family members in the in the audience.
And so, I'm part of the medical staff, and ophthalmology is one of the specialties that are covered by our awesome physician staff. We have orthopedic surgeons, plastic surgeons, sports medicine, and emergency medicine. It's a great staff to be a part of.
TJ: And, of course, Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Associates, the official sponsor of the upcoming Calder Cup postseason for the Charlotte Checkers once again as we're so grateful for that partnership. Not only the partnership in that regard, but, of course, having such wonderful folks like yourselves tend to these players and making sure that they can be the best they can possibly be with their ailments and with their injuries so they can recover faster and get back out there because, boy, doctors have been busy in that locker room this year.
Dr. Schotthoefer: It is. And that training staff works so hard to keep the players healthy and to help them heal. And Zach and Gus are just a fantastic team to work with. They are professionals, through and through, and do a great job, and we are happy to be a part of it and do what we can to help.
TJ: So, you say that you have a little bit of an affinity towards the goaltenders. What are you thinking of Kaapo Kahkonen, the newest goaltender on the team?
Dr. Schotthoefer: Oh, he's great. He just seems like a super cool character, very efficient in his movement, and he just seems to be a quiet leader. And that's been fun to see. All the goalies have done a great job with whatever they've been asked to do this season, so fun to watch.
TJ: It's so funny you say that. Earlier today, I was chatting with Carl who works for the arena here, and he mans the door. He's one of the show pros. And I was chatting with him and talking to him about Kahkonen, and he said the exact same thing and used the exact same words: efficient. He was like, “He doesn't move a lot, but he still covers a lot of space. He's so efficient. It's a perfect description of the way he plays the game. There's no wasted movement at all.
Dr. Schotthoefer: Yeah. And Carl's a great guy. He's one of my favorite guys to talk to, so I might have stolen that line from him. But he's part of the great staff that that is here on game day and always fun to talk to a Canadian, so also from a hockey tradition.
TJ: That's right. Hey, We gave him his attribution, so, you know, it's we're good. We're good. We cited our sources.
Dr. Schotthoefer: Perfect. Very good.
TJ: Doctor Schotthoefer, I know that you get to know most of these guys, you know, from a medical standpoint. It must be pretty cool to see someone like [Trevor] Carrick leave and then be so happy to come back.
Dr. Schotthoefer: Yeah. So, I've been a part of the team since 2017 season, and he was there in the beginning. And it's so fun to see him come back. Now he's a dad, and he's got his, with his brothers, his maple syrup, company that's so successful. And the team's blessed with so many leaders. I mean, I know that it comes from the top of Coach Kinnear, but they have some really good senior guys and young guys stepping up too.
It's funny because my brother played hockey up through college, and it was a long time ago, but it doesn't feel like a long time ago. And so the personalities in the locker room are a lot of the same personalities that I saw in my brother's friends. And I I feel like they're peers of mine, and I realize that I am old enough to be their mother. And I'm not a peer, but it sure is fun to be around these guys. They really bring a great attitude to the rink every day and work hard.
TJ: What's going on these days with CEENTA?
Dr. Schotthoefer: So, we're a 101-year-old organization with ophthalmologists and ear, nose, and throat docs throughout the region. And so, it's been a great place to be an ophthalmologist, and we love taking care of patients in Charlotte, keeping everybody seeing and hearing well.
TJ: And not only the Charlotte area, but you guys have locations in South Carolina as well.
Dr. Schotthoefer: That's right. All the way up to Statesville and Albemarle.
TJ: I think it was last year, if not the year before, but [CEENTA} was voted one of the Top 100 Workplaces, if I'm not mistaken?
Dr. Schotthoefer: Yeah. We have great employees that are all part of our team approach to taking care of all the patients in the region, and we enjoy our collegial relationships with the other physician groups in the region. And me personally getting to work with other physicians and surgeons in the Charlotte organization here has been awesome. Jerry Barron, Doctor Barron is one of the orthopedic surgeons who was one of the first doctors to take care of the Checkers back in the eighties, and he and Doctor Kevin Smith from a plastic surgeon were the two team doctors that took care of guys before they wore shields and before they wore helmets, and they did a lot of sewing.
TJ: So how many years have you been with Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat?
Dr. Schotthoefer: I've been here almost eighteen years.
TJ: That's incredible.
Dr. Schotthoefer: Yeah, so I was fortunate to come to a Checkers game about nine years ago now.
Time goes fast and we sort of scooped up as a member of the physician team. And it's been such a fun process, and this is a great team for Charlotte and great to see the community all rally around the team for the Calder Cup run and for each playoff run. I mean, it's not a given to make the playoffs in this in this league, and especially this division is a strong division. And so, I'm super proud of this team again this year.
TJ: How many games do you get to a year?
Dr. Schotthoefer: So, I get to about two-thirds of the home games, I think.
TJ: Charlotte 2, Wilkes-Barre Scranton 1. We'll go ahead and give you the recap, plus we've got Plays of the Week and all that coming up on the Tar Heel Inn Service Intermission report. But I've gotta thank Doctor Schotthoefer so much for coming up and spending a period with us. I know that you probably gotta take a swing through the locker rooms, make sure everybody's okay here during this second period, but thank you again for coming up.
Dr. Schotthoefer: Let's do it again. Thank you, TJ. Super fun.
TJ: Anytime. Come on up and let's, let's knock it out.
As the Checkers head into the Calder Cup Playoffs, you and your family can enjoy every minute of high-paced hockey action with better vision from CEENTA. To schedule your next appointment with us at nearly twenty offices in the Carolinas, use our online scheduling tool or myCEENTAchart if you are an existing patient.
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