Saturday, March 18, 2017

AUSTIN ORSZULAK TO PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY




Former Cathedral High and American International College (AIC) hockey star, Austin Orszulak, has signed a professional contract with the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL. They play their home games at the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, NY. The Thunder are part of the NHL's Calgary Flames organization. Austin is listed as #10 on their roster and has already participated in some games, a quick transition from AIC where he was the team captain.

#17 Austin Orszulak
Blocking Shot in AIC Win Over UMass
January 2017
Photo by Alfredo

Austin played on some good teams at Cathedral High and earned the Gene Grazia Award as the best offensive player in Western Mass. He played junior hockey for a couple of years for the Springfield Pics where in the 2012-13 season he tallied an outstanding 51 points with 21 goals and 30 assists. In his sophomore year at Division I AIC he had 35 points in 36 games, but perhaps his most important role was that of team leadership that evolved to becoming team captain.

The name "Orszulak" is synonymous with Western Mass hockey since there are a bunch of them who are all excellent hockey players. They include Travis, his brother, and cousins Matt, Justin, and Chris. I had the opportunity to watch (and photograph) Chris play at Amherst College when my gallery was in Amherst. By the way, most of them play in the Olympia Ice Center's Summer A League in West Springfield, MA that is considered one of the best off season hockey leagues in the nation. Austin has been one of the leading scorers in this league.

The best of luck to Austin in his new professional career!  We will all follow his progress.

Al DiLascia

Image News Service




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