LEGENDS 10 PROSPECTS to pay homage to Excitement hockey!

Picture it…2006…NARCh Finals in Mississauga, ON, CA.  I was coaching for the Buffalo Wings, at the time, and had an epiphany.  It was time to step out and form my own organization.  It wouldn’t be the first time I had my own.  I started the BUFFALO FIREBIRDS when I was fresh out of high school.  It was the first time I ever stepped foot behind the bench.  Shout out to those guys!!  We would do events like the NHL breakout, AAU, USARS and our first major event was the TORHS Nationals at the ESL Centre in Rochester, NY in 2003, I believe it was.

Excitement hockey began playing in tournaments in 2007 at the TORHS Nationals in Taylor, MI.  The first Excitement rosters were a 16U and 18U team with most of the payers hailing from Buffalo, NY.  The 18U team had Detroit Red Wings first round draft pick, Tommy McCollum in net and we would field an Adult Gold team that year as well.  We then would head to NARCh Finals in Estero, FL and the Junior Gold team of Danny Bara (MI), Greg Boyd (FL), Andrew James (MI), Colin Sipperley (MI), Kyle Steinberg (MI), Jason Yokubison (MI) and goaltender Jamie See (MI) would net the first ever medal for the organization.  The organization would win its first TORHS AAA Championship in 2008 in Buffalo, NY and its first NARCH Platinum Championship in 2009 from the Excitement 95s and the only other head coach Excitement has ever had- Jason Yokubison.  The organization would go on to field a PRO team that would make a TORHS Final and a NARCh semi-final.  Excitement players are still playing to this day and are extremely successful.  Jess Hackett, Nick Okada, and Matt O’Shaghnessy are players who still play under George Brown as he now coaches the Carshield PRO team!  

Other Excitement players still playing PRO today include: Ryan Perry (Carshield), Corey Hodge (Carshield), Brandon Hawkins (Carshield), Alex Kile (PAMA Labeda Golden Knights), Jr Cadiz (PAMA Labeda Golden Knights), Itan Chavira (PAMA Labeda Golden Knights),  John Schiavo (Unify Konixx Black Ice), Cal Kiefuk (Konixx Ragecats), Blake Bennett (TCS Envious Wings), Shane Bennett (TCS Envious Wings), Anthony Merrigan (TCS Envious Wings), Nolan Sheeran (TCS Envious Wings), Joe Mitchell (TCS Envious Wings), Kyle Novak (Labeda Freez), Jalen Krogman (Labeda Freez), Kyle Phelps (Blood & Feathers), JJ Fecteau (Blood & Feathers) among others.

What’s wild is how fast time flies when you’re having fun.  In what would be the 20th year of Excitement hockey, LEGENDS is celebrating its 10th.  So the 2026 PROSPECTS jerseys will pay homage to all of the players that ever wore the Excitement jersey.  So now the two worlds get to collide!