Two former New York Rangers and Long Island natives are holding a hockey showcase for aspiring icemen in Dix Hills next month with a big assist from a New Hyde Park insurance agent and a local restaurateur quickly building his reputation as a sports supporter.
Twin brothers Peter and Chris Ferraro, who grew up in Sound Beach, both played for the New York Rangers in the 1995-96 National Hockey League season. On Aug. 4 and 5, as the latest development from a venture they formed called Ferraro Brothers Hockey Inc. two years ago, they will give young tri-state area players aged 15 through 18 years old the chance to scrimmage and play games in a two-day showcase for scouts from Division I and Division III schools and prep schools, as well as junior travel teams.
“We wanted to share our experiences with members of the community in the tri-state area who might not have the ability to get the credible recognition,” said Peter Ferraro.
The two-day Ferraro Brothers Hockey Showcase at the Dix Hills Arena is being supported by New Hyde Park sports insurance agent Richard Salgado’’s Coastal Advisors LLC and Umberto Creo’s Umberto’s Pizzeria in New Hyde Park. Salgado is providing insurance coverage of the event and Creo’s restaurant is providing pizza for the aspiring hockey stars and their friends and family.
Salgado and Creo have a ongoing relationship with the New York Giants NFL football team. Salgado, who is an agent to several Giants players, has been delivering pizzas to the Giants training complex during Friday practices for the past several seasons. One of Umberto’s managers personally delivered pizzas to the Giants on the Friday prior to their Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots earlier this year.
“Long Island’s not a hot-bed of hockey and they just want to bring awareness that there hockey players on Long Island,” Salgado said.
Prior to their professional careers, the Ferraro brothers both played on the U.S. Olympics team in the 1994 winter games and also played on an NCAA national men’s championship team at the University of Maine.
“Our idea was to bring something to the backyard here for players to attend on Long Island,” Ferraro said. “It was a long challenging road for us. We were always on the road and we had to find the best competition to play at the highest level.”
The Ferraro brothers will open the showcase with a training session for the players who will be participating in the showcase. Most of the rest of the time, what the brothers expect will be six teams of players aged 16 and under and aged 18 and under will be competing in scrimmages and games for the benefit of the scouts who attend. Billy Jaffe, a former NHL player who is now a commentator for the NHL Network, has also committed to participate in the training session with the Ferraros.
The young players will also be given off-ice physical evaluations by representatives from Institute 3E and can also participate in a one-hour seminar given by representatives of College Hockey Inc. who will give them pointers on the college application process.
“We wanted to bring something back to our community,” said Ferraro.
The two-day event will include some T-shirt and jerset giveaways in addition to the on-ice action.
The fee for participating players is $500. Anyone interested can sign-up and access more information about the showcase online at www.ferrarohockey.com.
