by Boscohockey | Dec 2, 2015
By Coach Andrew Steffey:
Ice Hockey and Mickey Corcoran never crossed paths. Well, maybe a little, (he was, after all, the
The teacher with the student, Hall of Fame Induction.
grandfather of the Bergen County Coaches Assoc.), but he didn’t attend his first hockey game until he was 90 years old. I should know, I took him, November 16, 2012.
There wasn’t a gym in the tri state area that Mickey hadn’t refereed in, coached in or watched a game in. Simply put, he’d been to every single one of them. Including West Points’ Holleder Center (and yes, Mick knew Holly too). Maybe you heard of two legendary coaches that came out of West Point, Coach Knight & Coach K? Mickey knew them. Personally. The list of coaches that Mickey knew, or should I say knew him, is a who’s who and it is more than a few pages and much more than just basketball. In fact, Mickey even knew the legendary West Point Hockey Coach, Jack Riley, “great, great guy,” Mick would say.
But on this evening, Mick, Bobby (Mickey’s longtime friend) and I, walked into Tate Rink and took our seats to watch the Army West Point Hockey Team take on Sacred Heart. And we got treated to a thriller. Army took an early lead only to have Sacred Heart answer back twice, but in the opening minutes of the third period, Army scored the eventual game winner. Mick, was thrilled, turned to me and said, “Andrew, I can’t believe I never came to a hockey game, especially here at West Point, what a great time!”
Couldn’t resist the chocolate!
Undoubtedly, many will write about how Mickey was the link between NJ coaching legends, coached by Lombardi in High School at St. Ceclia in Englewood and the mentor and coach to Bill Parcels at River Dell. Many people knew Mickey, a lot of people. He was a true legend and touched hundreds if not thousands along the way, this was his true legacy. Most coaches now a days don’t even know who Mickey is. And to be honest, up until 2010, I never had either. I’ve always tried to seek out advice from those who have more experience, always wanting to learn something new from someone thats been down that road. In 2010, that opportunity landed in my lap.
Nobody had the seat I had for the last 5 years…from 2010-2013, I was his boss. Well not exactly, but about as much as anyone could be his boss (except his wife Dolores), it was me. Mickey spent 66 years as the starter at Alpine Country Club. In my four years at Alpine I got to spend just about every Saturday & Sunday with him. Many times he would show up during the week too, just to hang out. Alpine was like the locker room to him. The staff, we were like his players. There isn’t a single person up there that doesn’t have a Mickey story, or he didn’t impart some sort of wisdom on. But in many aspects that is where he was most comfortable. He just wanted to be around the action.
Mickey with Coach Belichick at Hall of Fame Induction.
No one can ever take away those 4 years that I got to spend with Mickey. I’ll never forget the time I spent with him and lessons I learned along the way, especially his best line, “Andrew, you’ll learn in this world that there are two types of people…those who get it and those who don’t!” Great wisdom and so true.
I used to tell Mickey that he never had a bad day in his life and he always agreed with me. “Pretty tough to argue that,” he would say. And I always did my best to pull out as many nuggets as I could about coaching, after all the man did have Parcels, Knight, Coach K and a few other notables in his rolodex. But it was Rudyard Kiplings’ poem “If” that Mickey always used to preach, and probably what made him so successful as a coach:
“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, or being hated, don’t give way to hating, and yet don’t look too good, nor talk to wise…If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run – Yours is the Earth and everything thats in it, and which is more, you’ll be a Man my son”
Rest in peace pal.
by Boscohockey | Oct 19, 2015
Congrats to former Don Bosco Ironmen standout Cole Maier, on scoring his first NCAA goal vs Sacred Heart. In his first game for Union College, Cole scored the Dutchmen’s lone goal of the game in a 1-1 tie to open the season.
The first period was a tight-checking battle and evenly played until Vecchione broke free in the Pioneers’ zone and neatly centered the puck to a driving Maier, who was coming down the right side of Magnus.
“Wilky (Matt Wilkins) made a really good play, chipping it through there to Vex and he gave me an awesome pass on the two-on-one,” Maier said. (Courtesy of the Times Union)
by Boscohockey | Sep 23, 2015
Don Bosco Hockey is proud to be a supporter of the Rob Kenny/Thomas Kennedy Memorial Golf Outing. The outing takes place on Thursday Oct 1, at Apple Ridge Country Club in Mahwah, NJ. Individual and Foursomes are still available for this great day and fun event. Anyone interested in attending, please contact Coach Toskos at gregory.toskos@ubs.com or Coach Foye at sean.foye@morganstanley.com, or by simply printing the sign up and mailing in your entry fee.
RK/TK Memorial Golf Tournament Sign Up
Major Thomas Kennedy 1977-2012
Rob Kenny 1968-2010
by Boscohockey | Jun 18, 2015
The Don Bosco Hockey program would like to extend a warm welcome and wish new Head Coach Brooke Ammerman all the best as they began their program this upcoming season. After a successful playing career at Wisconsin & the USA National Team, Coach Ammerman had been coaching at the Ice Vault when the opportunity to start North Jersey’s first girls varsity ice hockey team arose.
“That was the most intriguing part about it was that there is no one who has done it before, so it can be my own,” Ammerman said. “And it’s just a great environment, a school like IHA. There are resources here, and me being in the area with my background and having more girls playing and [being in] Bergen County, and it was almost like a perfect storm at the perfect time.”
You can read the rest of the press release from The Record here.
Don Bosco Hockey looks forward to supporting the Blue Eagles as they begin their inaugural season in 2015.
by Boscohockey | Jun 3, 2015
McGee (18), Mazzella (25), Campomenosi (12)
Bosco Hockey is proud to announce forward Chris Mazzella will be joined by fellow senior, Luke Campomenosi and junior, CJ McGee as the Captains for the 2015-2016 campaign.
Mazzella ’16, a four year varsity player, was second on the team last year with 32 points in 21 games (17 G, 15A). Joining him will be three year varsity Defenseman CJ McGee ’17 (1G, 7A) and second year varsity Defenseman Luke Campomenosi ’16 (0G, 2A). All three players will play an integral part in leading the Ironmen in 2015-16.
“The entire coaching staff is excited to have these three young men lead our team this upcoming season,” said Head Coach Greg
Toskos. “Chris is a four year varsity player that brings a lot of experience, Luke made huge strides as a first year Varsity player last season and CJ has earned the respect of his teammates through his tremendous work ethic since he was a freshman. I have no doubts that we have a solid leadership core that will serve us well this upcoming season.”
