COMING ON CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33
the PBA hockey team that apparently wanted to flex its strength
so much on this night.
“That we keep pressing, that we keep going, that we never
give up,” defined PBA team captain Dan Tacopino, a Monmouth
County Sheriff’s Officers Local 314 member, of what makes up
Jersey’s Strongest. “You always hear, ‘New Jersey State Troop-
ers.’ Well, they can be called ‘the troopers.’ We will be called ‘the
strongest.’”
Strong time coming
Mallory’s game has made its home at Mennen Arena in Mor-
ris Township, not far from where Mallory grew up in Rockaway.
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34
NEW JERSEY COPS
■ JANUARY 2019
With one-third of the PBA roster coming from Morris County
Locals, there was a local army working to add some extra pomp
and circumstance to mark this event.
Assistant Captain Brian Kelly, a Livingston Local 263 member,
had been hustling behind the scenes for weeks, posting flyers
around the county and taking other measures to bring out the
crowd that eventually reached nearly 2,000. But Jersey’s Stron-
gest wanted to do even more to be worthy of Mallory’s Army.
Maggie Tacopino made sure Dianne Grossman turned
around to watch when her husband led the PBA on to the ice
for the pre-game. Her reaction when seeing the Mallory’s blue
jerseys included tears of pride.
“We go to work every day to try to give back to our communi-
ties, so doing this on our day off means the world. That’s what
it’s all about, doing it for them,” Kelly declared. “To see her face
over us wearing the jerseys for her, it makes all the hard work
seem like nothing. I would do it a thousand times over again.”
On the team’s group chat several days before the game, the
idea came up of wearing the Mallory’s Army jerseys. Kelly, Taco
and Pascack Valley Local 206 member Jarred Arcidiacono, a Riv-
er Vale Officer, had already put their heads together to get the
jerseys made.
And so on a night when Jersey’s Strongest repeatedly stepped
up with its won’t-back-down posture, the team’s strongest move
was its show of strength for the cause.
“Since last year’s game, we told Dianne we were going to
adopt her as our yearly charity game,” Taco noted. “They were
so pleased to hear that we are going to play for them. And we are
going to continue the fight against bullying and help their cause
as much as they are helping the popularity of the team.”
The victory in the 2017 Memorial Cup game might have been
eclipsed only by what Dianne posted on Facebook the day after.
The emotion of a repeat performance in 2018 left Dianne need-
ing a few days to find the words to express the strength the 2018
game generated.
Her emotions can be read in part on page 36. But it all built up
to an ending sentiment worthy of tears:
To the men & women of blue...
We stand with you...
Here’s to great things in 2019!
We love you more than words can ever say!!!
Strong man
The game might have been won in the first 25 seconds, when
Aliseo devoured a slap shot to his midsection. He turned away
the next 45 shots with the confidence and conviction that have