William Tennent has dropped its first two games in the Athletes Helping Athletes hockey showcase.
The Panthers fell to Central Bucks East 7-4 Wednesday night at Revolution Ice Gardens after falling to Souderton 9-6 in their opener on October 5.
But for Tennent coach Nick D’Aurizio and his players, there is a lot more to the AHA event than what’s on the scoreboard.
Now in his ninth season behind the Tennent bench, D’Aurizio has been involved with the five-year old AHA showcase since its inception.
“We’re happy to be a part of it,” he said. “We were happy to be part of this in Year One and we were lucky enough to have some good teams early on; we won it two years in a row.”
D’Aurizio credits tournament organizer Eric Tye for helping the event reach its current level of prominence. “Eric does a great job,” he said. “The impact that (the showcase) has on the AHA and the Bucks County Admirals, it makes it all worth it. And it really gets the season off on a really good note. Everybody’s upbeat, everybody enjoys themselves, it’s a great month.”
D’Aurizio says the showcase has allowed his program and the players in it to connect with the special-needs athletes who benefit from AHA’s efforts. “Year after year, they love working with the AHA kids,” he said, “the Admirals kids.
“They always embrace the (honorary) captains that we have. It’s just awesome to see. Every year they ask me ‘Hey, when is the Admirals skate?’ It’s something they really look forward to and that makes you feel good as a coach because it means your kids are good people. They’re not only good players but they’re good people. And that’s what we try to breed here at Tennent and again, we’re thrilled to be a part of it.”
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