Ice Prowlers once again among club team elite

As seen in Pickerington Times-Sun
Saturday, January 17, 2009

PHILLIP KING

There are some team logos that simply tell the outfit's whole story at a glance.

You'd be hard-pressed to find one doing a better job of that than the one produced for the Ice Prowlers club ice hockey team.

You've got your Tigers resembling the Pickerington Central mascot, wearing a Reynoldsburg Raiders hat, a patch over one eye.

With athletes on the squad from Central, Reynoldsburg, Pickerington North, Canal Winchester, Wakins Memorial, Hartley and Groveport Madison, it would take a whole lot bigger emblem to represent them all.

But, said Prowlers first-year coach Joe Tonello, that's never been a problem.

"A lot of these kids grew up together playing in other leagues," he said. "Once you get them all together, they don't care what school they're from. They represent the Prowlers.

"The passion for the game is there. That's all that matters when we're on the ice."

In its 11th year, the East Siders have a generational history of passion for the game, and a history of winning. The Prowlers have won four Greater Columbus High School Club Hockey League championships, have advanced to the finals of the GCHSCHL Blue Jackets Cup five consecutive times (winning three) and made four Buckeye Cup State Championship appearances.

"We're trying to continue the tradition at Pickerington, keeping that reputation of being a powerhouse program," said the coach.

The squad is currently in first place in the GCHSCHL (10-3-3), with Westerville in hot pursuit.

"I'm happy with the way the season is progressing," Tonello said. "We're still in first place; we've had a couple of bumps in the road the last two games. We lost to teams we should have beaten, but the thing about this league is any team can win any given day out there. We don't take anything for granted."

Tonello, who previously coached at Dublin Scioto, said a lot of offensive firepower graduated with the eight seniors gone from last year's roster.

"The underclassmen in the program stepped up and took charge," the coach said. "Adam McGrath (forward, North) was the all-time leading scorer, and he's definitely continuing where he left off last year. With his leadership, as well as the youngsters stepping up, it's been a very good year."

Other Panthers on the roster include forwards Franco Giardina, Alex Giles, Josh Katz, Alex Fultz, Tyler Cole, Christopher Lohrman and Taylor Kantor, with goalie Dan Smith and defensemen Trevor Annetts and Ryan McMullen.

Central players are Alyssa Smith (defenseman), Matt Thompson (forward) and Daniel Johnson (defenseman), while Canal Winchester athletes are forwards Kyle Baughman and Seth Hunter.

Michael Hutton (forward) goes to Groveport, while from Reynoldsburg are defensemen Alex Daniels, Erik Flom and Matt Gorgias, forward Darien Bryant and goalie Jeremiah Holland.

Forward Orlando Ruiz and goalie Erik Heinmiller attend Hartley. Forward Jake Miller attends Watkins Memorial and defenseman Sean Straker goes to Licking Heights.

While the regular season is winding down, many crucial games remain.

"We have four games left in the league and the two tournaments," Tonello said. "We want to take that momentum into the Blue Jackets Cup and the Buckeye Cup."

The Prowlers host Hilliard-Southwest Jan. 30 at the Chiller Easton, before battling Newark Feb. 1 at the Ice Haus.

The Blue Jackets Cup opens play Feb. 19, with the Buckeye Cup puck drop coming March 6.

"Once you get them all together, they don't care what school they're from. They represent the Prowlers."
--Joe Tonello