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MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. – The Arizona Sundogs, in conjunction with the Central Hockey League are extremely proud to announce that Head Coach and General Manager Marco Pietroniro is the 2006-07 recipient of the CHL Rick Kozuback Award.
The Rick Kozuback Award is “presented annually to the Central Hockey League owner, front office staff member, coach or player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, determination and commitment to the game, sport and business of hockey.”
“We are extremely proud of Marco and his overwhelming efforts both on and off the ice,” said Sundogs Owner and Governor Eric Lacroix. “As a first-year professional coach of an expansion club, his commitment to our organization and the sport of hockey in general, especially at the youth level is nothing short of admirable. These character traits are what we have built our team around. He truly leads by example.”
A native of Laval, Quebec, Pietroniro’s on-ice experience rivals that of many long-time professionals. He has played hockey at the junior and professional levels throughout North America and Europe. A leader on and off the ice, Pietroniro was tapped as captain or alternate captain for eight of the eleven teams he played for during his junior and professional career.
Even as Head Coach/GM of an expansion club in the Arizona Sundogs, Pietroniro has remained immersed in hockey away from the rink. He still remains closely associated to his most recent team, the Idaho Rattlers, a Junior-B, Tier II team in Boise. He has owned hockey stores in Milan, Italy and Boise, Idaho and was the founder and director of the Idaho Junior Steelheads Youth Hockey program beginning in 1999. He served as a consultant/director of hockey operations for Idaho Ice World, director of hockey operations for the Boise Blades Youth Hockey Association and continues to serve as the Rocky Mountain Evaluator and as a Coaching Educator Instructor for USA Hockey.
Pietroniro joined the Sundogs in the Summer of 2005 and immediately made it known that his club would have a significant, positive influence in the surrounding communities and with that came the creation of the Arizona Sundogs Foundation. Ever since, Marco and the Sundogs organization have made a considerable effort in helping to make Northern Arizona a better place to live.
As both a teacher and true ambassador of the game, Marco emphasized that he would help to spread the game of hockey in Northern Arizona. In doing so, he implemented the Arizona Sundogs Youth Hockey Program. In all, 55 players ages 6-18 signed up for the program skating in eight on-ice sessions through the months of February and March.
Marco and his wife Caroline are the parents of five boys, Phil (12), Chad (10), Matteo (8), Chris (6) and Massimo (4) all of whom are involved in youth hockey at some level.
“Having witnessed first hand the major and significant impact that the Sundogs organization has had in Northern Arizona, not only on but perhaps more importantly off the ice, Marco Pietroniro is highly deserving of this recognition,” said Kozuback.