As the fourth season of the EBMHL was slated to begin, East Boston suffered a blow felt by many throughout our area. The loss of lifelong Eastie resident as well as near and dear friend of many who skate in the EBMHL , Jimmy Celona had sent a ripple through our great city. Jimmy grew up playing hockey in Eastie with a numerous skaters from the league and with an amazing gesture by Commissioner’s Ryan Luongo and Jeff Arinella the 4th season was declared in memory of Jimmy. With The Celona Family in attendance the fourth installment of the EBMHL kicked off in grand fashion.
Game 1 we saw Charlie Daniels and the defending champion East Boston Yacht Club take on Peter Hanlon and his troops from Milano’s Deli. A furious pace kept all in attendance very well entertained as these teams went back and forth all game. Milano’s Deli jumped on the backs of Mark Moran, 2 Goals, and Peter Hanlon, 1 goal, for the hard fought victory over the champs 3-2. Rob Bulla pitched in with 2 assists. EBYC’s offensive charge was led by Charlie Daniels 1 goal 1 assist, and Mike Rodrigues who had the single tally. Before the start of Game 2, Commissioner Luongo brought lifelong friends of Jimmy Celona, Sal Santostefano and Darrell Interbartolo to center ice for the official season 4 drop of the puck by Jimmy’s brother and local hero who recently returned home from Afghanistan, Sergeant Joel Celona. A moment that certainly set the tone for the game to follow.
Game 2 pitted two teams primed for a title run this season, Royal Roast Beef and newly signed on sponsor The Squire. Two teams very hungry for a piece of the EBMHL Cup. This one certainly did not disappoint as it came down to the final second. With Darrell Interbartolo and Shawn Smith, 2 goals and 1 assist each, at the helm, Royal Roast Beef seemed to be cruising to the victory up 4-1, but David Berardinelli and his crew wasn’t about to roll over. On 2 goals from Berardinelli, a goal and an assist from Sebastiano Amara, a goal from Chris Prew and 3 helpers from Mike Mondello, The Squire roared back to tie the game at 4 with under 1 minute remaining in the game, only to have their hearts ripped out as Royal stormed the crease and Glenn Squillaciotti buried the game winner with .5 of a second remaining to give Royal the 5-4 win. Action we hope to see all season long from these two teams.
Game 3 was nothing short of spectacular as we had yet another 1 goal game. Dominic DiMarzo and the Lightning Express took on Marc Lanzilli’s, pre-season favored, Chiara’s Auto. Up and down hockey is exactly what we got with this match-up and thanks to the return of David Collins, who took last season off, Lightning Express was able to muster up the very big upset win 6-5. Collins buried 4 goals, while Dimarzo pitched in with a goal and 3 assists, and Jeff Delpidio with 1 goal and 1 assist. For Chiara’s Auto we saw newly acquired Defenseman Ricky Gigante control the play most of the night with his outstanding blue line play and emergence as the D-man to watch this season, as well as bury 2 goals while captain Marc Lanzilli added 2 of his own with his keen shot selection. Newcomer Dan Pencinger added the other tally for Chiara’s. Defenseman Stephen Morrill did an amazing job of quarterbacking the offense with his 3 helpers in this one.
As always we welcome any and all to come on down to Porazzo Rink and catch some of the action that takes place week in, week out all winter long. See you at the rink.