Castro carrying late father's lessons into college career at Wisconsin | NHL.com

Tony Castro grew up in West St. Paul, Minnesota, as the son of Mexican immigrants. He loved hockey. Most kids in the neighborhood did. But Tony was told by a family member that he’d never earn a living in the game. Reluctantly, he listened. While still a teenager in the 1970s, he started working at an auto body shop that became his own: Castro’s Collision Center on Robert Street in St. Paul.

Tony and his wife, Joette, had five children. In raising a new generation, Tony never repeated the advice he’d been given about the impracticality of a career in hockey. Where others saw limitations, he sought possibilities. He believed. His kids did, too.

This fall, the youngest of them, Anton, begins his career at the University of Wisconsin, one of the most storied programs in college hockey. He’ll bring with him the work ethic and empathy he learned from Tony, who showed that running a successful business could coexist with helping customers struggling to pay for necessary repairs.

“The hardest worker I’ve ever met,” Anton said. “He was at work at 5, 6 a.m. I wouldn’t see him until 9, 10 p.m. He was always working. A body shop is a pretty blue-collar business, especially on the west side . . .

“He loved it. Even on hockey trips, he was on the phone every second, calling people, setting up appointments, talking about insurance policies.”