Apple Core Empire team to battle for Ronald McDonald Charity Cup

The New York Apple Core Empire Selects will battle the Suffolk PAL Juniors Ice Hockey program for the inaugural Ronald McDonald Charity Cup in an effort to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House.

The Ronald McDonald House helps parents with very sick children by allowing them room and board at no charge right next to the hospital at which their child is a patient.

Many of these kids have cancerrelated illnesses and the burden of cost becomes a major factor for families when the hospital stay is a long one.

Ex-Apple Core Eastern Junior A coach Chris Cosentino works for Ronald McDonald House and has brought two storied junior franchises on Long Island together for this worthy cause.

With all the extras, the event should raise substantial funds for this great cause. Apple Core and PAL are the winners of the last two Jr. B National Championships. The organizations go back many years and have produced around nine to 10 NHL players and countless college players.

The game will be played on Tuesday night, Nov. 16, at Long Beach Arena. Please go to the applecorejunior.com Web site for details. This will be an annual event, with the 2011 game being played at the Rinx.

The Apple Core’s home at Long Beach has had a facelift, with the ice surface having been re-done and new nets purchased along with a general spruce-up of the facility. Locker rooms have been fixed up as well as the lobby area.

The Apple Core Empire Jr. B Selects’ outlook is very optimistic for the new campaign. Head coach Henry Lazar will have veterans Pat Condon, Oleksii Malichenko, Dylan Scarpato, Mike Mascaro and Mike Brennan to lead the way.

Associate head coach Jon Sandos and assistant coach Brian Johnston join the staff, which is led by head coach Henry Lazar.

“There will be [18] new faces on the roster of the defending national champions,” said Sandos.

“The new players have been carefully selected out of over 100 who tried out. Character was the No. 1 priority after skills,” added Lazar.

Apple Sauce: Congratulations go to Mike Smith (Stonybrook), Vin Morris (Becker College) and Ron Kokas (Becker College), who were key ingredients on that championship team. The team received their rings in June and will forever have great memories for the 2010 campaign, which included a 30-game Empire League winning streak … The Apple Core have joined with Fast Hockey to broadcast all their home games live, starting in September... The Empire League team has done well this summer in tournaments, winning the Eastern Junior Spring Showcase and the Eastern Junior Summer Showcase, held over July 23-25 … Congratulations also go to Core alum Anthony Bitetto, who was drafted in the sixth round by Nashville and will attend Northeastern University this fall.

NEW YORK APPLE CORE DIRECTORY

Director of Hockey Operations
Junior A Head Coach
Empire Junior B Head Coach
Henry Lazar
HLIZARD78@AOL.COM

Continental Hockey Association
Jr. B Head Coach
Tom Carroll –
tdcusbhockey@aol.com

Bring the OJ:’ Sunshine State a new source for Selects

By Joshua Boyd

If Capital District Selects general manager/head coach Jim Salfi is putting together a breakfast buffet for the first day of training camp, he knows who to ask for the orange juice.

On some nights this season, half of the Albany, N.Y.-based Selects’ defense will consist of Florida residents, while one more Sunshine State-born forward will grace the attacking lines.

“We get kids from all over anyway, but this is the first year I will have had four Florida kids on my team,” said Salfi, whose Selects Jr. A team will open its 2010-11 training camp on Aug. 22.

The three defensemen are Brett Nussbaum, Brad Jones and Sean Casey, while Dan Derasmo is the forward moving north for the winter. At least they’ll avoid traffic on the roads. What Salfi likes about each of the players is that they won’t shy away from traffic on the ice.

Nussbaum comes to the Selects from the Tri-City Titans, of the Northern Pacific Junior Hockey League (commonly referred to as the “NORPAC”). From his spot on the defense, Nussbaum scored 12 goals and 32 points in 38 games. Derasmo scored 16 points in his 20 games as a teammate to Nussbaum on the Titans.

Nussbaum, a Boca Raton, Fla., resident, was so highly regarded around the NORPAC that he was named to represent the league at the USA Hockey “Best of the Rest” tournament, held in conjunction with the Junior National Championships in March.

“I started talking to him at the [Best of the Rest],” said Salfi. “He’s a big, strong kid [6-feet-2-inches, 210 pounds], a good skater and an offensive defenseman with a good shot. At the EJHL Spring Showcase in May, he moved the puck really well and played well against both Philadelphia and the Jersey Hitmen from our league.”

Just after the EJ showcase in May, Nussbaum was affected by mononucleosis, but that has cleared up and he is “100 percent ready to go” for training camp.

Jones, out of the town of Davie, played for the South Kent School last year and Salfi scouted him at the Hockey Night In Boston Summer Showcase, as Jones was skating for the South Florida team. Salfi was a head coach of another team at the HNIB showcase.

“[Jones] also played in the spring showcase on one of the Apple Core’s teams they put together,” said Salfi. “Brad’s a little taller than Brett, but the same type of offensive-minded defenseman.”

Casey, a Palm Beach, Fla., resident, started the 2009-10 season with the Northern Cyclones’ Jr. A team, but finished with their Jr. B team in the Metropolitan League. He’ll be looking to make an early impression and stick for a full Jr. A season with the Selects.

Casey also played in the HNIB tournament, and was signed shortly thereafter by Salfi.

“He is 6-feet-3-inches, 210 pounds, very steady, he passes the puck very well, he’s strong against the boards and strong in front of the net,” said Salfi. “He just gets the job done.”

Salfi said that, due to Casey’s size, he was pushed towards an enforcer role by past teams.

“That’s not his game. He’s a good solid defenseman who passes the puck flat and shoots from the point with his head up,” said Casey. “All three – Nussbaum, Jones and Casey – can shoot the puck well from the point.”

Derasmo, also from Boca Raton, stands 5-8, but is “solid.”

“He played very well at the EJ spring showcase. He’s got good speed and good offensive skills,” said Salfi. “He’s also a really good penalty killer.”

Salfi is no stranger to Floridians. Another former Select from the Sunshine State, Igor Martinez, helped Norwich University win the 2010 Division 3 National Championship.