It is not uncommon to hear that a person aspires to graduate college prior to embarking on what sometimes amounts to a lifetime of work, that work being; to create and own their own business. What is uncommon though, almost unheard of even, is when someone is able to have a professional athletic career and own their own company all before the age of 31. While a feat like this may seem unlikely, it is not impossible and Rob LaLonde proves just that. LaLonde, a former professional hockey player is well on his way to a second successful career.  With help from best friend and business partner Kevin Lonergan, the duo co-founded a company called Buttendz in 2013, which supply hi-tech rubber grips for hockey and lacrosse sticks.

LaLonde, a native of Williamsville, NY says that growing up not far from Buffalo, where hockey is quite prevalent, attributed to his decision to get involved with hockey at a very young age.

“Buffalo is a pretty big hockey community so when I was five or six years old my Father just asked me and I started playing,” LaLonde said. “It was something I was pretty good at, I loved the game. It was something everybody was doing and as the years went by I just kept playing.”

Although LaLonde was always confident that he could play hockey in the NHL someday, a stellar junior season during his high school career coupled with a  welcomed growth spurt that had the young defensemen standing at 6’3 and weighing over 200 pounds, finally giving him the size he would need to flourish.

With his collegiate career in mind, LaLonde opted to transfer to St. Joe’s, a private school in the area that would allow him to compete against top talent, hoping his play would attract the attention of Division 1 programs and earn him that scholarship he desperately wanted.

After a strong senior campaign at St. Joes, he had college offers, they just weren’t the right ones.

“I got heavily recruited at the Division III level, but at that time, what I really wanted was to play at the Division I level so I had to figure out a way to make that work.”

The way to make that work was to play two years of Junior in the North American Hockey League (NAHL). During his first year, LaLonde was in Springfield, Illinois with the Junior Blues before heading to Cleveland to play for the Barons.

 As it turned out, LaLonde had, “Probably the best years of my life,” playing Junior. More importantly, his performance in the NAHL was good enough to get the Division I offer he always wanted, playing for Merrimack College in the Hockey East Division.

Merrimack’s affiliation with Hockey East would have LaLonde suiting up against Boston College, Maine, Boston University, among others, most of whom find themselves ranked inside the Top 25 every season. This was a very coveted opportunity for LaLonde and one that he relished.

“It was my dream to play in Hockey East. I always thought that if I was able to play in Hockey East that would be a good enough career for me. Just to have the opportunity to play at that level, with such prestigious universities was a great experience.”

After four years at Merrimack, (2002-2006), where LaLonde was a staple for the Warriors’ defense the Merrimack stand-out went undrafted in the NHL Entry Draft.

“Not getting drafted didn’t discourage me, it just fit with how my career had been going. There’s a whole class of players that have made it to the NHL that were undrafted,” said LaLonde. “I just kept trying to excel and win hockey games, trying to make it to the next level.”

Throughout the next four years LaLonde spent his time bouncing between the ECHL and the American Hockey League (AHL), spending much of his time with the Reading Royals of the ECHL. Among the many things he learned during his time in the minor-leagues was just how much of a business the game can be.

“At the pro level you have to realize very quickly you are an employee of a company and you are there because you have a job to do. The sooner you learn that the better you’ll be.”

 LaLonde felt he was better suited for the pro game saying, “I was a very physical player, sometimes that is frowned upon at the college level where they call a tighter game. My aggression was much more of an asset to me at the professional level.”

With each passing year in the minor leagues, LaLonde’s play was improving and his ultimate goal of playing in the NHL was getting closer.  LaLonde finished what he considered to be the best year of his career with the Toronto Marlies in 2009, creating a sense of optimism for the 2010 season. 

LaLonde started 2010 in the ECHL, once again he was with the Reading Royals. Injuries began to creep up on the now fourth-year pro. An early season back injury sidelined the blossoming NHL prospect for more than three months. By playoff time, LaLonde had returned stronger than before. Tragically, a hit from behind left the defenseman concussed, unconscious, and in the hospital. Ultimately, LaLonde was never able to return to the game, retiring at 28 years old after four seasons, all in the minor leagues.

After more than two decades as a hockey player, LaLonde was left with the task of reinventing himself.

“After the concussion, life was really hard for me, I wasn’t feeling well, I wasn’t feeling like myself even. I lost my identity as a hockey player and that was tough on me. After months of convalescing and help from family and friends I was able to move on from hockey.”

Wanting to circle back to an idea of using a rubber grip to replace the traditional method of taping your stick, an idea which he came across in 2008 while playing, but with no real business plan in place, and little sales or business knowledge he found himself in a holding pattern.

However, very fortuitously, while on a family vacation, an opportunity arose for LaLonde to interview for a sales job in New York City.

“The job opportunity was in copier sales. I had always wanted to live in New York City and what better way is there to get sales experience than by working in sales in Manhattan, so I took the job, moved to New York and started selling machines in September of 2011.”

After a year and a half, still working with copiers, LaLonde began to refocus his efforts towards the hockey grip, which had been an idea in waiting since his playing days.

After reassurance from best friend and Buttendz co-founder Kevin Lonergan that this idea could be a successful business venture, the decision was made and the two life long best friends were now business partners.  

“Kevin is the smartest guy I know, once he told me it was a good idea, that was it,” LaLonde said. “On that day we decided we were going to make this idea a business. We were going to call it Buttendz and build a hockey stick grip and go from there.”

With a plan in place it was now about the logistics; figuring out the purpose, the expectations, the design, color schemes, logos, manufactures, materials and the like. It was the “creating, testing, and editing phases if you will.  

Shedding some light on why he wanted to produce these grips, LaLonde said, “It was all about improving the performance of the hockey stick. First and foremost I wanted something that would aid performance. Secondly, aesthetically I wanted it to look good. Thirdly, I wanted to build a brand. LaLonde went on to say, “ It had to be better than what was currently available.” 

It was in December of 2013, after almost a year of deliberation, that a product was created that met the expectations and the vision that was slowly coming to shape over the past five years. Now, with the first product in hand, Buttendz was born.

In the two short years that Buttendz has existed, it has seen remarkable growth. Buttendz products have sold in more than ten different states and five different countries giving them a national and even international reach. 

When asked to comment on the wide distribution of his young company, “Knowing that we have a great product helps,” LaLonde said. “We just use a grass roots approach. I gave them to buddies in the NHL, we sold them in local rinks, made cold calls, and take them to trade shows and conventions.”

Realizing the importance of social media, Buttendz quickly activated a presence on all major forms of social media, allowing the company to go viral.

As far as the future of Buttendz is concerned, LaLonde admits he hasn’t spent much time thinking about where the company may be in the next five or ten years.

“You know, I’m just having so much fun right now. I’m so grateful to wake up every day and get to pursue this. I’m living the dream. I’m hoping in five to ten years we are building new products and still getting people excited about the brand.  If we can do that I’ll be thrilled,” LaLonde continued.

LaLonde went on to say that fans of Buttendz have expressed a need for grips in lacrosse, tennis, and baseball. Fans have also inquired about purchasing Buttendz apparel.

“We haven’t spent too much time looking into the future, but if it’s something involving a grip we’d love to improve it.”

With a product that has received nothing but rave reviews from those that have used the Buttendz grip at the youth level all the way to the NHL level, the sky is the limit for Buttendz and their natural rubber grips.  Having such early success one would not be surprised to find that, down the line, the Buttendz brand could become a staple not in just the hockey community but the sports industry.