Pat grew up in North Bergen and as a young boy would often don the quads of roller skates and play roller hockey on the streets in the neighborhood. That passion for hockey led him to Pershing Field in Jersey City where he played locally, and then stints with the NY Westsiders, along side Joey and Brian Mullen and also with the Golden Blades.
A trip to Ontario, Canada and the Bruce Hood School of Officiating when he was 17 set in motion the future for Pat. At the Hood School, they wanted Pat to immediately join up and start working the Junior leagues in the Province. Pat turned that down and returned to Jersey but started working the old North American League which opened more officiating doors. Pat became a member of NIHOA at the age of 18 and started working High School games between gigs of doing D1 College and AHL games. After 6 years doing this circuit, the NHL came calling.
The stats will say that Pat Dapuzzo worked 1,532 regular season games and 63 playoff games, plus an All-Star game and the 1991 Canada Cup. Pat’s on-ice career ended in Philadelphia in 2008 in a game between the Flyers and the Rangers. But that’s not the end of the story.
Pat continues to be involved with hockey. He has worked as a scout with the Toronto Maple Leafs and currently is part of the ECAC hockey’s head office, scouting and evaluating officials.
Pat was also on the bench as an assistant coach during the State Championship runs by Bergen Catholic in the early 2000’s.
