2018 NJSPBA
Mini-Convention
Fighting the good fight
PBA Hockey Team pulls a few punches to defeat Philly police
in front of raucous Mini Convention crowd
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
n PHOTOS BY ED CARATTINI, JR.
Flyers Skate Zone in Atlantic City apparently turned into an
Octagon for the PBA Hockey Team’s game against Philadel-
phia Police on March 7, though the fighting was anything but
ultimate. The first period of this PBA Mini Convention mati-
nee had turned chippy, as the hockey players define less than
savory hits, and even bloody. In the midst of hyper-physical
play, a referee had to be helped off the ice after taking a shot to
the head, and Jared Arcidiacono of Bergen County Local 102
was taken to the hospital with a mangled shoulder.
The presence of nearly a thousand members who came af-
ter Mini Convention meetings concluded admittedly left both
teams charged up, if not riled up. Then, a series of open-ice
hip checks and behind-the-net scrums gave the game a Wres-
tleMania exposure, which came to a head when Wall Town-
ship Local 234’s Tim Margadona circled to center ice for an
actual drop-the-gloves hockey fight, in which he thought he
broke his hand.
Eventually, cooler heads prevailed. The coolest belonged to
Monmouth County Sheriffs Officers Local 314 member Dan
Tacopino. Taco called on his sheriff’s officer fierceness – and
his high school hockey coaching savvy – to order his team to
stop the shenanigans. Then, he led the team with three mag-
nificent goals and facilitated two others for his linemates in
the PBA’s 9-4 victory.
“I told our guys the same thing they told their guys: Cut
the crap and play a gentleman’s game,” Taco explained. “Stuff
happens after the play, it escalates and before you know it, it’s
out of control. And it’s Philly. They always bring a fight to the
game.”
What cannot be lost is that this game served as a fundrais-
er for the Survivor & Welfare Fund and the Josh Vadell Foun-
dation. At least 140 PBA Locals answered the challenge Team
Manager and Local 314 State Delegate Mike Schulze issued to
donate $100 for this game. As a result, $14,000 was raised for
Survivor & Welfare.
The PBA and Atlantic City Local 24 sold T-shirts to benefit
the foundation that Vadell has set up in the wake of the gun-
shot that caused a traumatic brain injury 18 months ago that
he is miraculously recovering from. Vadell dropped the puck
for the honorary faceoff that his partner, Thomas McCabe,
took. McCabe, an avid player with the Atlantic City Police De-
partment team, dressed with the PBA team for the game.
And then there was the crowd. Despite a mix of freez-
ing snow and rain, hundreds of members bused, taxied and
Ubered from Bally’s to the Skate Zone. The Middlesex County
Conference even set up a hospitality room with food and bev-
erages, and by the start of the game, the crowd would have
64
NEW JERSEY COPS
■ MARCH 2018
Steve Scherer of East Hanover Local 227 (4) and Dan Tacopino of Mon-
mouth County Sheriff’s Officers Local 314 connect for one of four goals they
combined for.
Tacopino celebrates one of his three goals.
needed a collective Valium to calm down to a fever pitch.
“The crowd was awesome,” noted East Hanover Local 227
member Steve Scherer, who had a goal and an assist. “They
were going wild, and we were just feeding off them.”
The crowd erupted at the 11:09 mark of the first period
when the PBA appeared to score the first goal of the game.
Fans hurled an octopus on the ice afterward, evoking one of
the NHL traditions.
That goal was disallowed, however, and the PBA eventually
took a real 1-0 lead when Ryan Collis of Livingston Local 263
poked the puck in from in front of the Philly goal at the 8:08
mark. The next six minutes deteriorated to both teams filling
up the penalty box and State Corrections Local 105 member