Dave Aiello wrote, "I'm sorry to report that John Moritz, an official from the Atlantic District, has died. We were asked to pass along the following information to the officiating community:"

John Moritz, Atlantic District Referee, bravely battled metastatic colorectal cancer since February 2008. He endured much in terms of treatments and side effects in hopes of beating this disease and one day returning to the ice again. Sadly he lost his battle on January 17, 2009. John's battle was chronicled as a blog at www.johnscancerjourney.com.

John leaves behind a wife, three children who played, still play, officiate or coach ice hockey in the area, and two step-sons.

For those of you who might want to share your condolences with the family, the details of John's Memorial Service are listed below:

Date: Friday, January 23, 2009
Time: 7:00 pm (reception at 6:30 pm)
Location: Blue Bell Country Club, 1800 Tournament Drive, Blue Bell, PA 19422

For those who are unable to attend the memorial service but would like to share a remembrance or story about John with his family, please feel free to leave a comment on the blog.

The family requests that flowers are omitted however those who chose to do so may make a donation the John M. Moritz, Jr. Memorial Scholarship fund c/o Wachovia Bank, 1375 Skippack Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mike McDevitt, the Atlantic District Officiating Program Evaluation Coordinator, has been selected to officiate the 2009 ECHL All-Star Game Presented by Guardian Wear in Reading, PA on Wednesday, January 21. Mike will be a linesman, joining referee Shane Warschaw and linesman Mike Hamilton in the three-man on-ice crew.

According to the announcement from the ECHL:

McDevitt began officiating professional hockey in 1993-94 and has worked more than 900 regular season games in the ECHL and the American Hockey League while also working the Kelly Cup Playoffs and the Calder Cup Playoffs. He was a linesman in the 2002 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-20 World Championship and the Winter World University Games in 2000. McDevitt worked as a linesman for the 1999 Three Nations Under-20 Tournament and has been a referee in the Asian Professional Hockey League since 2004. He is an instructor at USA Hockey’s officiating camps where one of his students was All-Star referee Shane Warschaw.

Congratulations to Mike, Shane, and Mike, and good luck on Wednesday.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tony Mariconda wrote: "I am happy to report that Marty Maglio has accepted the position of Atlantic District Officiating Seminar Coordinator effective immediately."

Marty Maglio
110 Juniper Court
Glen Mills, PA 19342
marty.maglio [at] verizon.net
610-742-7251

"I am also happy to report that Vince Scriboni has accepted the position of Atlantic District Officiating Seminar Liaison – South effective immediately. Vince will take over Marty's former role with seminar administration in the southern part of our District. He joins Carl Barling, who is our Seminar Liaison in the northern part of the District."

Vince Scriboni
134 Hidden Pond Way
West Chester, PA 19382
Iceref413 [at] verizon.net
215-896-7443

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Aiello wrote: "I'm sorry to report the passing of Edward Taylor, Joan Mariconda's father. The arrangements are as follows:"

Edward Taylor
Scilleri's Funeral Home
351 Fifth Avenue
Paterson, NJ 07514
www.scillerifuneralhome.com

Wake - Thursday, January 15: 2 to 4 and 7 to 9
Funeral - Friday, January 16: 9:30am from the Funeral Home

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tony Mariconda wrote, "I am disappointed to announce that I have received an unsolicited message from Shane Hanlon indicating that has resigned as our District Seminar Coordinator effective immediately. I want to thank Shane for all the time and effort he has put into helping make our seminar program one of the best in all of USA Hockey."

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)