The York Lions men’s hockey team will have a deep connection with a neighbouring city this season.
The Lions upped their off-season recruiting haul in Vaughan to three players with the addition of two members of the Vipers Junior-A team – forward Nathaniel Brooks and goaltender Carlo DiRienzo.
Brooks and DiRienzo will join Vipers defenceman Trevor Waddell on the 2007-2008 Lions. All three of those players helped the Vipers win the South Division title in the Provincial Junior-A League this past season.
“We’re very happy to add two more players from Vaughan,” Lions head coach Bill Maguire said. “They are all going to help us this season.”
DiRienzo played for the Kitchener Rangers (2002-2004) and the Oshawa Generals (2004-2006) in the Ontario Hockey League before wrapping up his junior career with the Vipers. A second-round draft pick of the Rangers in 2002, the North York native went on to play 159 games in the OHL before leading the Vipers to the second round of the playoffs in the provincial league.
Brooks played in the Provincial League, the United States Hockey League and the OHL as a junior. The Richmond Hill native suited up for the Markham Waxers (2002-2004), the Chicago Steel (2004-2005), the Generals (2005-2006), the Aurora Tigers (2006-2007) and the Vipers. Brooks tied for second on the Vipers in playoff scoring in 2007 with 12 points in 12 games.
The Lions open the 2007-2008 Ontario University Athletics season on Friday, Oct. 12, against the visiting Royal Military College Paladins at Canlan Ice Sports Arena on York’s Keele campus.
Submitted to YFile by Mike Koreen, sport & recreation information officer in York’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health.