Varsity Ice Hockey Season Under Way

Garden City Wings Varsity Ice Hockey has started its 34th season in the High School Hockey League of Nassau County. This year's team is consists of a very young roster with all of last season's seniors, who contributed the bulk of the team's scoring, having graduated. The team has its work cut out for it in this rebuilding season.

Junior Davey Logan who has tended goal for the Wings since 7th grade will be starting this season and will be heavily relied on to anchor the team from between the pipes. New to the Wings in goal will be senior Brian Johnston and sophomore Jimmy Georgas. Both Brian and Jimmy looked solid through the pre-season workouts and will certainly be assets to our net minding squad. Freshman goalie James Ross, who played well for the Middle School Wings last season, will also be ready to take up the call in net.

On defense, the Wings have returning veterans Tom Rossidis and David Brown, who will be expected to be the backbone of the blue line corps. Both Tom and David will see a lot of action on the special team shifts and should contribute as offensive threats on the power play. Junior Joe Scalise, voted last year's most improved player, returns this season making the transition from forward to defense. Moving up after two seasons of Middle School Wings hockey are Tim Moynihan and Tom White. Both defensemen played very well for the MS team and will need to move the puck smartly and quickly this season to compete against faster and bigger opponents.

Five juniors return from last year's team up front. Nick Greco (team captain) and John Mendicino will play as a winger pair. Both players have good hands and are always looking to make plays. They will need to contribute on the scoreboard this season. Junior Aaron Kim (assistant captain), who possesses tremendous speed and strength, is anticipated to post some league-leading statistics this season. Matt Gaudiosi and Mike Lanciotti, Wings since 7th grade will be paired up on the Wings. Matt's towering presence down low in the offensive zone should create difficulty for opponents trying to clear their slot area. Mike's hustle is sure to create turnovers and offensive rushes with the puck.

The team's only rookies from 2005-2006 return as sophomores: Tom Greco and Eric Diller. Both Tom and Eric have good hockey sense, knowing where to be and what to do there. Tom and Eric will see a lot more ice time this season and are sure to help out the team in all game situations.

The forwards are joined by freshmen Spiros Markopoulos, Pat Donahue and Beau Lardner. Spiros is an offensively talented center and will certainly help out on the scoreboard with his playmaking abilities. Pat after playing two seasons on the Middle School Wings knows how to play within his game to get his job done. Beau is new to Wings' hockey and has already shown tremendous improvement in his team play and skills.

The season kicked off on October 25 with a game against Island Trees/Plainedge. The Wings stunned the IT/P by scoring immediately off the opening faceoff on a goal by John Mendicino from Dave Brown. The stun wore off toward the end of the first period as IT/P came back with two quick goals to take the lead. Spiros Markopoulos answer back on the power play with help from Tom Rossidis to tie the game at two. A great tick-tack-toe less than a minute later resulted in an Aaron Kim goal with the set up tandem of Tom Greco and Eric Diller, putting GC back in front 3-2. Unfortunately IT/P was able to tie it up before the period ended. As the clock ticked halfway through the third period, IT/P went up 4-3. The Wings answered on the next power play opportunity on a shot by captain Nick Greco with the assist coming from Spiros Markopoulos to again tie the score. Despite proving that the Wings have some offensive punch with 4 goals, defensive errors led to a final IT/P goal with less than a minute to play. Final score: Wings 4, IT/P 5. The Wings seem to have their work cut out for them in developing disciplined defense. Scoring four goals can definitely win a hockey game, as long as your opponent scores fewer than that!

The upcoming Wings schedule can be found on the Wings website: www.gcwings.org

Go Wings!