NJ High School Ice Hockey Hall of Fame

Seton Hall Prep, 1997-98

admin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:09:40 +0000

Seton Hall has long been a powerhouse in High School Hockey and that was certainly proved true during the winter of 1997-98 when the Pirates finished with a 25-2 record. Seton Hall, led by senior forward, Zach Hatcher, won the Gordon Cup by beating St. Joseph of Montvale 6-0 which included the hat trick of junior forward, Brandon Doria. The Pirates went on to beat Delbarton, 3-1 in the parochial school finals and beat Brick, 3-2 in the TOC contest.

Seton Hall Prep, 1997-98

Players
John Dibble
Gary Tashjian
Dave Murphy
Steve Jeffers
Brady Crooks
Brian Reynolds
Ben Halewicz
Kevin Cordovano
Joe Fernandez
Zach Hatcher
Brandon Doria
Daniel Percella
EJ Solomine
Ed Caldwell
Ed DeMartino
Pete Ludwig
Jon Grabowski
Jeff Skowronski
Geordan Murphy
Chris Percella
Brian Romano
Bob Dupuis
Justin Meo
Justin (Liebman) Sintic
Kyle Fox
Joe Tonzola
Conor McNally
Chris Swon

Coaches
John Warchol
Peter Herms

St. Joseph’s Montvale, 1983-84

admin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:06:15 +0000

The Bergen County powerhouse put up some remarkable numbers during the winter of 1983-84 for coach Frank Horan. In the final year of the Bergen Scholastic League, St. Joseph had an amazing 26-0-1 record, scoring 279 goals and only allowing 39. St. Joseph beat Brick in the state final at South Mountain Arena, 7-6. Noted as a team full of outstanding players, which included Max Middendorf (HOF 2010) who went on to play in the NHL and Gene Katz, who later coached the team to a state championship.

St. Joseph’s Montvale, 1983-84

Players
John Amico
Sean Higgins
Eugene Katz
David Frank
Adam Passamonti
Vincent Petruolo
John Pagoumian
David Gatti
Matthew Murray
Gerald Rutigliano
Richard Brande
Andrew Barish
Craig Connolly
Max Middendorf
John Cabral
Darren Amerkanian
Eric Reisman
Keith Connolly
Coaches
Frank Horan
Barbara Horan

Harold Van Cott

admin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:58:43 +0000

Instrumental in the creation and operation of Branch Brook Ice Rink and South Mountain Arena, Harold was the Director of Recreation for the Essex County Park Commission from 1955 – 1980. These facilities introduced all forms of ice skating to the County residents.

In the early 1960’s, he helped organize Branch Brook Hockey, a twice a week clinic highlighted by visits from NY Rangers stars, and the first South Mountain Hockey School. This two week summer event was attended by 77 area players, directed by Paul McInnis, assisted by John Warchol and Joe Hannabach. It featured coaches of Princeton and West Point, NHL Allstar Doug Harvey, and world figure skating champion Hans Gerschwiler.

Harold helped bring together the original high school teams that competed for the Gordon Cup and made Friday night High School Hockey at South Mountain Arena a huge success.

Harold Handchen

admin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:52:28 +0000

Harold Handchen, who passed away in December of 2006, was one of the most respected people in the history of New Jersey Athletics. The World War II Navy veteran was named the first Athletic Director at Brick Township High School in 1958 and in 1965 he began his service to the state Hockey Committee. He was admired by many for the support he showed to the sports programs at the high school and around the community.

Handchen, who was an avid golfer, also started the Brick youth soccer league in 1963. In 1972, he was inducted into the Shore Soccer Officials Hall of Fame and in 2004 he was inducted into the Brick Wall of Fame. Upon his retirement in 1982, the East Gymnasium at Brick High School was renamed the Harold “Hank” Handchen Gymnasium. The Handchen Cup hockey championship began in the winter of 1985.

Kenneth B. Gordon

admin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:45:38 +0000

Kenneth B. Gordon’s life spanned 100 years and hockey was a big part of it. He moved to South Orange from Montreal with his brothers and they brought the new sport of ice hockey with them along with the concept of team play. They played for the South Orange Field Club in the 1890’s and Kenneth organized the St. Nicholas Hockey Club in 1896. Today it is the oldest amateur sports team in North America.

Kenneth played forward and captained the team for many years. He was named to the All Star Team covering the club’s first 25 years. He was instrumental in starting the American Amateur Hockey League in New York City in 1904 and served as an officer. In 1916 he coached the St. Nicks team that starred the legendary Hobey Baker.

In his later years Kenneth became an Essex County Park Commissioner and was instrumental in building the rink at Branch Brook Park and South Mountain Arena. In 1959, he donated his most prized hockey trophy to the champions of the New Jersey High School hockey tournament. Today the Gordon Cup is one of the most sought after trophies in New Jersey high school athletics. Handing out the trophy at the annual tournament was one of his great pleasures.

The Gordon Cup

The Gordon Cup has become symbolic of supremacy in High School Hockey. Every high school student who has ever played hockey in the North Jersey Scholastic Hockey League has dreamed of his team winning the Gordon Cup. Each team that wins can boast of having achieved the highest level of skill. The Gordon Cup is a reminder of how the sport of high school hockey has grown in the State of New Jersey from a minor struggling athletic activity to a major sport.

Vincent Godleski

admin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:36:33 +0000

Vin worked on improving high school and amateur officiating since moving to NJ in 1962. At that time there were only 20 Approved officials in the whole Metro-NJ-NY-CT area and only five rinks. He served as President of the NIHOA Metro NY/NJ Chapter (1968-1979) and USA Hockey Atlantic District Referee-in-Chief (1975-1995). He started the first US referee school with Paul McInnis (1965-1990), and was integral in making NJ the first state in the United States to coordinate USA Hockey and NIHOA referee programs.

Vin worked closely with the NJ Devils to develop their support of High School and youth hockey. He also helped many NJ officials to be selected by the NHL, ECAC and other pro leagues. Vin along with Paul McInnis officiated the Bruins-Devils “The Mother’s Day game” in the 1987-88 NHL Stanley Cup semi-finals.

Ed Purdy

admin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:16:12 +0000

Ed Purdy was an athlete at West Orange High School where he played football, baseball and began playing hockey his senior year. He played football at Springfield College in MA where the 1965 team was undefeated and ranked #1 in New England. In 1967, Purdy began his teaching career where he started as an assistant hockey coach and eventually became a head coach for West Essex where his team won the Gordon Cup in 1971. In the 1970’s Purdy worked with Dr. Earl Hoerner at his neuro-muscular diagnostic service on specific exercises for elite athletes which developed into an educational clinic that became available to the public. In 1975, Purdy became involved with the Livingston Hockey Club.

In 1976, he became a teacher at Livingston HS where he became the coach of the hockey team and the assistant football coach. In 1976, the hockey team won the league championship, the Gordon Cup and were the state finalists. In 1977 & 1978, his team was state finalist and in 1980 & 1982 they were the state champions. In 1981, Livingston won the Gordon Cup and he was The Star Ledger coach of the year.

Rich McLaughlin

admin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:13:34 +0000

Defensive prowess, consistency and that canny ability to win have been trademarks of McLaughlin’s Randolph teams for two decades. In his 19th season at the Morris County school this winter, McLaughlin earned his 300th career victory with a victory over Chatham.

A former scholastic standout while playing at Livingston and then at Merrimack College, McLaughlin began his coaching career at Livingston, where he spent two seasons before taking command at Randolph in the 1993-1994 season. Under McLaughlin, Randolph has captured five NJSIAA Public schools championships in nine trips to the final. McLaughlin has also guided Randolph to three Mennen Cup titles during his reign.

John Magadini

admin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:11:07 +0000

As an athlete John Magadini was an outstanding performer in hockey, lacrosse and football. He earned 10 varsity letters at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he won NCAA Championships for both hockey and lacrosse and was an All-American Honorable Mention for lacrosse.

At RPI, Magadini played hockey and lacrosse under legendary coach Ned Harkness. After graduating in 1955 he served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. He was inducted into the RPI Hall of Fame in 1986.

As a coach, Magadini was one of the major architects in establishing Delbarton as a state hockey power during the 1980s. Magadini guided Delbarton to its first Mennen Cup title in 1984. He then directed Delbarton to two more Mennen Cups in 1986 and 1987. He was named Coach of the Year in 1986 by The Star Ledger.

Magadini has also coached for the past 16 seasons at Pingry, winning the Skylands Cup in 2011 & 2012. In 2004, he was named Hockey Coach of the Year by the NJSIAA and Coach of the Year by The Courier-News in 2010.

Mike Giampapa

admin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:58:42 +0000

Mike Giampapa was a standout athlete at West Essex in both soccer and hockey and as a head coach he has also had great success in both sports. In the fall of 1970, he led WE to a state title in soccer and he was named first team High School All-American. That winter he was instrumental on the ice leading WE to the 1971 Gordon Cup championship.He went on to play soccer at Penn State.

Giampapa came back to WE as a head soccer coach were he lead his team to a Group II title in 2000. As the hockey coach at WE, Giampapa led his team to state championships in 2004 and 2010. In 2010, the team also won the McInnis Cup.