The Citizen
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Auburn firefighters Justin Wood takes a wrist shot at goalie Time Stevens at a practice and scrimmage at the Skaneateles Community Center on Tuesday night.
Auburn firefighters Justin Wood takes a wrist shot at goalie Time Stevens at a practice and scrimmage at the Skaneateles Community Center on Tuesday night.
What started off as just some talk around the fire house now has a group of Auburn firefighters playing some serious hockey for a serious cause.
“It began as useless chatter, a small pipe dream,” Auburn firefighter Justin Wood said. “Some guys expressed an interest in playing hockey together and it started snowballing until it turned into something huge.”
A group of firefighters began to gather on the ice, some with past hockey experience and a couple who have never been ice skating. It took off from there in a matter of a few months.
“We started playing together in October,” firefighter captain and coach of the team Joe Mirabito said. “By December you could start seeing some noticeable improvement and we began to play a little more competitively.”
Mirabito said that during those couple of months playing on the rink, whenever they could get ice time, they started to realize they had something.
“Some of the guys found out that there were other police and fire departments that also had teams together,” Mirabito said. “We started finding teams to play against and had a lot of fun doing it. By January or February, Wood had found out about a tournament in Rochester and so we decided to get involved and kicked our game up a notch.”
That tournament is the eighth annual Brian Shults Ice Hockey Tournament at the Skating Institute of Rochester to benefit seven-month-old Caitlyn, the daughter of police officer Eric Grillo. Caitlyn has been diagnosed with a cancerous mass on her spine.
The tournament will feature 21 teams from all over the United States and Canada, including our own Auburn Fire Department team, who will all be playing in an effort to raise money to save this precious life.
“What started as just a way to have some fun together has now turned into so much more,” Wood said. “This is such a good cause and we really want to make a difference.”
“Playing hockey has been good exercise for all of us, good camaraderie, a way to be a little competitive while using the teamwork that we always need together on the job and vent a little frustration,” Mirabito added. “Now that we are able to do something like this tournament it can be even more.”
Playing this tournament will also be more serious competition than this new found team has yet to have, which can make some a little nervous. Practicing has been key for their success, which is something that the hockey season made a little more difficult, Mirabito said that in recent months they have had to get more serious with playing hockey the way it is meant to be played and getting the right gear together. With the tournament just a short time away on April 17 through the 19, they don't have a whole lot of time to get their game in order.
#&We have come a long way in a short time,#8 Mirabito said. #&I guess next week we will see just how far we have come. I don't know how we will do out there but we will definitely have a good time for a good cause which is most important.#8
As for leaving their day jobs, Wood and Mirabito both agree that their place is definitely in the Auburn Fire Department.
#&At the end of the day, I still have the best job in the world as a firefighter and I am enjoying myself on the ice,#8 Mirabito said.
#&This is like a giant brotherhood and playing this game as a team is just another way of proving that,#8 Wood added. #&We turned something fun into something we as firefighters always want to do, this tournament is about that, saving lives.#8
Members of the team include: Wood, Mirabito, Jeff Clark, Dave Radley, Rick Tinti, Chris Burns, Ted Glowaki, Tom Hoff, Sean Corcoran, Tim Stevens, Ryan Guerrette, Brian Donovan, Jeff Hutchinson, Gary Mason, Dan Guzalak, Sam Giannettino, Mike Deyneka, Ed Sherman, Scott Dejoy, Dan Curry and the Auburn Police Department's Ed Fabreze.
“It began as useless chatter, a small pipe dream,” Auburn firefighter Justin Wood said. “Some guys expressed an interest in playing hockey together and it started snowballing until it turned into something huge.”
A group of firefighters began to gather on the ice, some with past hockey experience and a couple who have never been ice skating. It took off from there in a matter of a few months.
“We started playing together in October,” firefighter captain and coach of the team Joe Mirabito said. “By December you could start seeing some noticeable improvement and we began to play a little more competitively.”
Mirabito said that during those couple of months playing on the rink, whenever they could get ice time, they started to realize they had something.
“Some of the guys found out that there were other police and fire departments that also had teams together,” Mirabito said. “We started finding teams to play against and had a lot of fun doing it. By January or February, Wood had found out about a tournament in Rochester and so we decided to get involved and kicked our game up a notch.”
That tournament is the eighth annual Brian Shults Ice Hockey Tournament at the Skating Institute of Rochester to benefit seven-month-old Caitlyn, the daughter of police officer Eric Grillo. Caitlyn has been diagnosed with a cancerous mass on her spine.
The tournament will feature 21 teams from all over the United States and Canada, including our own Auburn Fire Department team, who will all be playing in an effort to raise money to save this precious life.
“What started as just a way to have some fun together has now turned into so much more,” Wood said. “This is such a good cause and we really want to make a difference.”
“Playing hockey has been good exercise for all of us, good camaraderie, a way to be a little competitive while using the teamwork that we always need together on the job and vent a little frustration,” Mirabito added. “Now that we are able to do something like this tournament it can be even more.”
Playing this tournament will also be more serious competition than this new found team has yet to have, which can make some a little nervous. Practicing has been key for their success, which is something that the hockey season made a little more difficult, Mirabito said that in recent months they have had to get more serious with playing hockey the way it is meant to be played and getting the right gear together. With the tournament just a short time away on April 17 through the 19, they don't have a whole lot of time to get their game in order.
#&We have come a long way in a short time,#8 Mirabito said. #&I guess next week we will see just how far we have come. I don't know how we will do out there but we will definitely have a good time for a good cause which is most important.#8
As for leaving their day jobs, Wood and Mirabito both agree that their place is definitely in the Auburn Fire Department.
#&At the end of the day, I still have the best job in the world as a firefighter and I am enjoying myself on the ice,#8 Mirabito said.
#&This is like a giant brotherhood and playing this game as a team is just another way of proving that,#8 Wood added. #&We turned something fun into something we as firefighters always want to do, this tournament is about that, saving lives.#8
Members of the team include: Wood, Mirabito, Jeff Clark, Dave Radley, Rick Tinti, Chris Burns, Ted Glowaki, Tom Hoff, Sean Corcoran, Tim Stevens, Ryan Guerrette, Brian Donovan, Jeff Hutchinson, Gary Mason, Dan Guzalak, Sam Giannettino, Mike Deyneka, Ed Sherman, Scott Dejoy, Dan Curry and the Auburn Police Department's Ed Fabreze.
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