February 27, 2008

Stars' Head Coach Chris Firriolo Moving Up

The Syracuse Stars' organization announced that head coach Chris Firriolo will be leaving the Stars' organization at the end of the season to pursue other opportunities at the pro hockey level.

"This year has been an incredible experience," said head coach Chris Firriolo. I was very fortunate to have a very special group of players to work with this year and so much credit for the success we had has to go out to the hard work of these players and my assistant coaches John Walsh and Donnie Kirnan. Both John and Donnie have been tremendous all year long and it's been a pleasure to have the opportunity to work with both of them. I want to thank our owner Don Kirnan for all his support and the years of experience he brings to the program and to these kids. The Eastern Junior Hockey League is an outstanding league and I was extremely impressed with the overall skill level, the exposure afforded to these players in our league, and the professionalism displayed by all the other coaches around the league. It's a special place to be and I'm just happy to have been a part of a great tradition created by so many passionate individuals who love this great game."

Under Firriolo's guidance, the Stars' finished the regular season 40-10-6-1 overall as they prepare for the playoffs, and presently have 12 players committed to the NCAA level. Firriolo will remain on board over the course of the next couple of months in the capacity of a General Manager role and focus on Player Recruitment and College Placement for the Stars' organization.

Stars' owner Don Kirnan will take over the bench next year as head coach as he did in the 2006-2007 season. With the Stars' program graduating so many players on to the college level, Kirnan's knowledge and years of developing young players will be a huge asset with the new core of young players arriving in Syracuse next season. Under the guidance of Kirnan, over the course of the past nine years, the Syracuse Stars' program has been instrumental in securing over 2 million dollars in college scholarship money; 6 of their players are now in the NHL; 8 have went on to play in the AHL; for the past 8 years Syracuse has sent at least one player to the National Development Team, 10 overall; countless others have gone on to the NCAA Division I and Division III levels.