ALUMNI NEWS

Released on: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 3:45 PM

ATLANTA FIRE ALUMNI ENJOYING COLLEGE HOCKEY SUCCESS:

As the NCAA Hockey season winds down, several former Fire players are looking forward to making a run at the NCAA Division 1 National Championship while contributing to perennial national powers.  Brad Miller (North Dakota/Shattuck prep), Tom Bardis (Wisconsin/Cushing prep), and the Sapponari brothers Victor and Vinny (Boston University/Culver prep) are all contributing to top ranked teams who have a legitimate chance to win the title.  Doug Jones (Dartmouth/Taft prep) has also enjoyed a strong season while Dartmouth could be a dark horse in the NCAA tournament.  Boston University (1), North Dakota (7), and Wisconsin (10) are all top 10 teams who are vying for home ice conference seeds. Other Fire Alums making strong contributions at the Division 1 level include Neil Ruffini (Alabama Huntsville/Kent prep), and Joe Brock (Holy Cross/Shattuck prep).  Also, outstanding forward Will MacDonald (Culver prep) will enter and Princeton University this September and play for the 2009-10 Tigers.

Former Fire stars contributing at strong Division 3 programs include KC Honeyman (Southern New Hampshire/Cushing prep), Evan Johnson (Lawrence), Josh Kamrass (Wisconsin River Falls) and Andrew Runner (Southern Maine).

IN OTHER ALUMNI NEWS:

Cooler Hall of Fame member and Ohio Sate College multiple record holder Dave Caruso continues to perform well stopping pucks as a professional for the American Hockey League Lowell Devils, the New Jersey Devils minor league team.

We are also proud to report that the New England prep schools are reaping the benefits of Owen Clark (Cushing), who visited Alabama Huntsville recently, and underclassmen Adam Patel (Choate), Danny Palumbo (Pomfret), KJ Pasieka (Northfield Mt Hermon), Ty Leddy and Casey Harvey (St. Marks), and Danny Johnson (St. Georges).  Look for these young starring student athletes to move on to outstanding colleges upon graduation from these elite schools and programs.

On the junior front Zack Kamrass continues to excel on defense for the Springfield Junior Blues of the NAHL after gaining notoriety by being listed on the NHL central scouting list for the 2009 draft.  Chris Lochner has had a strong year at Queen City of the Central States League as well, and is being recruited by several strong NCAA programs including UMass Boston and Salem State College.  Craig Pierce (Compuware) and Chris Kamal (Green State Glades) also continue to excel at the junior level in pursuit of their college dreams.