NJ Cops March2018 | Page 64

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