Sports 12-20-2017

New Leader:Guittarr begins first season as head coach of the East Boston High School hockey team

By Cary Shuman

As a hard-hitting 6-foot-2-inch standout defensemen for the Pope John High School hockey team in the 1970s, Kenneth Guittarr led the Tigers to three straight appearances in the State Tournament at the old Boston Garden.

Guittarr went on to excel in college hockey at Westfield State and stayed active in the game as a player in  informal hockey games with co-workers and friends at local rinks. A special education teacher at East Boston High School for the past 14 years, Guittarr served on former Jets coach Bob Anthony’s hockey staff from 2004 to 2011.

When Mr. Anthony decided to step down after last season following an outstanding 17-year career as coach, East Boston officials reached out to Guittarr during the application process. Guittarr applied for the position and was selected in May.

“It was wonderful to be named the new coach – a real honor,” said the 57-year-old Guittarr. “I love it.”

EBHS athletics coordinator Michael Smith was pleased to welcome back Guittarr to the hockey program.

“We are extremely excited for Kenny and his staff to take over the program from Coach Bob Anthony, said Smith. “Coach Anthony is an extremely tough act to follow.  His years of dedicated service to the program as well as instilling a winning tradition is something that Coach Guittarr wants to continue.  Coach Guittarr will bring his college playing experience and a love for the game to make this year a special one for his student-athletes.”

Guittarr has a roster of 15 student-athletes on his first team, 11 from East Boston and four from Charlestown under a co-operative arrangement with the school.

The Jets have three returning seniors, starting goaltender Thomas Guarino, Anthony Nastari, and Marty Taylor.

Ryan Gray, Jacob Leavitt, and Antonio Gerardi, a transfer from Malden Catholic, form the Jets’ top line. Sophomore forward Vanessa Rico is the lone girl on the Jets’ roster.

Eastie has dropped games to Dracut (7-1), Nashoba Tech (6-2), and Latin Academy (6-1) to-date. Eastie was tied 1-1 with Latin Academy after one period before LA pulled away in the final two periods.

Guittarr said his team is looking forward to playing in the 15th Annual East Boston Savings Bank/East Boston High School Deep Freeze Hockey Tournament next Tuesday and Wednesday, (Dec. 26-27) at Porrazzo Rink. East Boston will play O’Bryant in the opening game Tuesday at 4 p.m. Revere will play Ashland in the nightcap at 6 p.m. The winners meet in the championship game the next day at 6 p.m., preceded by the consolation game at 4 p.m.

The tournament is played in support of breast cancer charities and honors the memory of Mrs. Jacalyn “Jackie” Anthony, wife of former head coach Bob Anthony.

EBHS Aqua-Jets Dedicate Season to Arthur Horn

The 2017-2018 East Boston High School swim team will dedicate their season, which kicked off this month, to Coach Dave Arinella’s former coach and swimming mentor, Arthur Horn. Horn, a longtime swim coach and instructor at the Paris Street Pool recently passed away following a long illness.

“Arthur (Horn) taught me so much about coaching and competing and a lot of what I do today is based on the knowledge I gained from him.  His memory lives on through our swim team.”

The Aqua-Jets have got off to a slow start by losing their first two meets to Revere and then to Archbishop Williams last Friday.

“There are a lot of younger swimmers who have talent and we need to cultivate that talent,” said Arinella. “We don’t want them living in the shadow of last year’s record breaking team.  Both losses were close and the team is already hungry to swim better.”

Coach Arinella gave much credit to his assistant coaches John Hall and Daniel Marifiote for their investment to the team for this season.

“We have some very winnable meets coming up,” said Arinella.

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