This fall marks the 40th season for the Rye High School Varsity Hockey Program! On Wednesday, December 17th the Varsity Hockey Program and the Rye Varsity Hockey Booster Club will be celebrating and paying tribute to the Varsity Hockey Alumni at the game versus White Plains at Playland at 7:45pm. There will be special events before and during the game.
Rye Varsity Hockey has a long, proud and successful history; forty years on the ice in Rye with the Playland Ice Casino as its home has created a long list of impressive accomplishments:
- 15 Section 1 Championships
- 14 League Championships
- 8 Regional Championships
- 7 NY State Final Four appearances
- 1 NY State Finalist in 1982
But equally impressive are the memories and bonds that have been formed over the generations. Ask any Alumnus about their time with the Garnets and most will warmly regale tales of former coaches, players, games, upstate trips, playoff victories and championships sprinkled with the names of fellow teammates and coaches most still with us and some that have passed. These bonds and memories are real and form a Rye hockey community that has passed on the love and passion for this wonderful sport from generation to generation. Many of our Alumni continue to keep the hockey lineage alive in Rye; either as long time youth coaches, participants in adult leagues, parents of hockey players of all ages, organizers, supporters, and as fans of all Rye hockey programs.
The Rye Varsity Program traces its roots back to the Rye Royals. The blue and white Royals were a club team that began in the 1950’s and were sponsored by the Rye Police Benevolent Association. Parents like Skip Casiraghi were influential in its success (his sons played on the Hockey Garnets in the 1970’s). For teenage athletes, before there was a high school league, there was the Royals. It was a “rough and tumble league” according to Rich Guthrie, “with no face masks and 5:00am practices at Playland”. They played at Ebersole and Playland and had rivalries with White Plains, Iona, Ardsley, and Stepinac.
In the early days of Varsity Hockey in Rye, one parent name keeps coming up over and over – Diane Holmes. She was a driving force in the community behind all hockey in Rye, be it the Rye Roadrunners, the Rye Royals, or its successor, the Rye Rangers, and of course the Rye High School Hockey Garnets. As Coach Zegras said “she was a tremendous influencer of ice hockey in Rye”.
It was Diane Holmes and a Rye High math teacher named John Zegras that in 1974 convinced the Rye High School Administration to financially and operationally create and support a Varsity Ice Hockey Program. Diane was an innovator, in 1981 she along with her lawyers successfully petitioned the New York State High School Athletics League to allow high school student athletes to play with an “outside club” and for a varsity team at the same time. Section 1 was the first section in New York State to be allowed to do so. We take this simple duality for granted today, but it was something that a Rye parent volunteer fought for.
All along the way the Varsity Hockey Booster club was there – again parents and the community supporting and supplementing the success of the Rye Varsity Hockey Program. The first Booster Club was created to help finance the “novel” idea, at the time, of “traveling upstate” to take on the powerhouse teams, in an effort to improve Garnets skills. The upstate trips began in the late 1970’s and even included a flight to Montreal in 1988!
Coach John Zegras lead the Rye Varsity Hockey Program for its first 17 years, his accomplishments are second to none. He led the team to win eleven Section 1 Championships, six Regional Championships, five NY State Final Four appearances and in 1982 the Garnets were a NY State Finalist. In 2003 Coach John Zegras was inducted into the New York State High School Hockey Hall of Fame.
Coach Zegras (1974-1993) was “a pioneer and put Section 1 hockey on the map” according to Jay Altmeyer, he was the first coach to schedule out of the area games (primarily upstate) to prepare the Rye Garnets for tougher, playoff competition. He lead the first ever Section 1 team to compete in a New York State final game. “That was a special year [1982], we beat Mamaroneck and Suffern, and defeated La Salle at Playland in front a packed house to win the New York State semi-final game and advance to the final” said Jay. Coach Zegras recounts “the upstate high schools thought they were unbeatable – until the likes of Rye and Suffern came along”. The rivalries in those early years were against White Plains, Mamaroneck and Suffern, they “weren’t rivalry games, they were wars” according to Jay. Coach Zegras made hockey the premier sport at Rye High School.
Coach Zegras himself said “we had great talent”. Players like current Varsity Coach Peter Thomas, Jay Altmeyer, Michael Holmes, Bill Holmes, Vinnie Holmes, Dean Bodner, Bill Gallicano, Doug Altmeyer, Greg Zegras, Chris Casiraghi, Kevin Casiraghi, Doug Holden, Myles Lavelle, James Howard, J.DeRose, T.O’Brien, C.Thresher, T.Hagele, R.Gedney, P.Duncan, A.Avery, T.Buttrick, S.Collins, D.Wright, B.Rosenstadt, K.McCrea, S.Cozzi, , S.Shaw, S.Burke, Paul Stern, Rob Howard, Bill Burke, Ward Haynes, John McKay, Dean Bodnar, , Jay Althoff, Robert Sassone, Bryan Bowen, John Plunkett, Michael Pryor, Josh Weinman, and many, many more all played under Coach Zegras.
Kevin Kelly coached the Rye Varsity Hockey team from 1994-2003 and Garnets continued their success. The next decade was a successful one for the Garnets, as Section 1 grew the competition within the section increased but Rye remain in the top of the Section. “Kevin Kelly was a successful Coach” remarked Coach Zegras. Under Coach Kelly the Garnets won one Section 1 Championship, one Regional Championship, and had one NY State Final Four appearance in 1994.
Jason Friesen took over the Hockey Garnets in 2004 and coached them for the next decade. Coach Friesen guided Ryeʼs scholar/athletes to three Section 1 Championships, one Regional Championship, one NY State Final Four appearance. He was voted Section 1 coach of the year in 2007 and 2008. The rivalry during this time period shifted to Pelham, and epic seesaw battles for the Section 1 Championship ensued: in 2005 Pelham dominated, 2006 saw the infamous OT knock out of Rye by Pelham, in 2007 and 2008 Rye triumphed, in 2009 Pelham won, in 2010 Rye prevailed, in 2011 Pelham was victorious, and in 2014, Pelham defeated Rye for the Section 1 Championship. As Coach Zegras said “Jason Friesen was a positive force for young athletes, he had many great victories, and was a fine coach”.
Isaac Cass, the MSG Varsity journalist provided this perspective from outside the community and from one who sees many hockey programs, “in my handful of years covering Section 1 hockey, Rye has consistently been one the upper echelon programs in the area. The Garnets have always fielded a hard-working and talented team. More importantly, they are respectful on and off the ice”.
Why has the Rye Varsity Hockey Program consistently been successful? What are the ingredients that have contributed to its success? A great feeder system; dedicated coaches; selfless athletes; strong parent/community involvement; fan support from students, alumni, parents, and the broader Rye community; and, the support of Rye High School and the Board of Education.
It is the Alumni (the players, coaches, community volunteers, and the Rye High School Administration) that paved the way, that allow the current group to be the temporary stewards of this successful program, sometimes unaware of the greatness that came before. We owe the Alumni a great debt of gratitude. We salute all the Alumni of the Rye Varsity Hockey Program and say thank you for all that you did, and all that you continue to do, to keep the legacy of a successful Varsity Hockey Program alive in Rye for this generation and generations to come.
