Jason Gerardo Cirone (born February 21, 1971) is a Canadian-born Italian former professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...
centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricit ...
. He played for the
Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...
of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
and is the former head coach of the
Metro Jets
The Metro Jets are a non-sanctioned junior ice hockey team that plays their home games at Mount Clemens Ice Arena in Mount Clemens, Michigan. They are members of the Great Lakes Conference in the United States Premier Hockey League's Premier Div ...
of the
North American 3 Hockey League
The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) is an American Tier III junior ice hockey league that consists of teams from Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New Yor ...
. He is the former head coach of the Midland University Men's hockey team in Fremont, Nebraska. Internationally Cirone represented
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
at several
World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
and at the
2006 Winter Olympics.
Playing career
As a youth, Cirone played in the 1984
Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament
The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...
with a
minor ice hockey
Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from c ...
team from
Don Mills
Don Mills is a mixed-use neighbourhood in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was developed to be a self-supporting "new town" and was at the time located outside Toronto proper. In 1998, North York, including the Don Mills c ...
.
Cirone was drafted by the
Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...
in the third round (46th overall) in the
1989 NHL Entry Draft
The 1989 NHL Entry Draft was the 27th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 17 at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Detroit Red Wings' 1989 draft has been noted as exceptionally successful, with 5,955 total NHL games played by the p ...
. He played
junior hockey
Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...
for the
Cornwall Royals
The Cornwall Royals were a junior ice hockey team based in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. The team played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 1969 to 1981, and the Ontario Hockey League from 1981 to 1992. This team shared its name with ...
and
Windsor Spitfires
The Windsor Spitfires are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team is based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1971, the franchise was promoted to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for the 1975 ...
of the
Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overa ...
. Cirone appeared in 3 games with the Jets during the 1991-92 season.
On August, 1993, the Jets traded Cirone to the
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and initially played their home game ...
in exchange for forward
Dave Tomlinson
David Holland Tomlinson (born May 8, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre (ice hockey), centre. He attended Boston University on a hockey scholarship from 1987-1991. After graduating, he played in the AHL and IHL and also c ...
.
Cirone had a successful career in minor league hockey. He played for the
Moncton Hawks
The Moncton Hawks were a professional ice hockey team based in Moncton, New Brunswick. They played in the American Hockey League between 1987 and 1994, operating as a minor league affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets. Home games were played at the ...
and
Rochester Americans
The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League; the team is an owned and operated affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, ...
of the
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...
; and the
Cincinnati Cyclones
The Cincinnati Cyclones are a professional ice hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team is a member of the ECHL. Originally established in 1990, the team first played their games in the Cincinnati Gardens and now play at Heritage Bank C ...
,
Los Angeles Ice Dogs
The Long Beach Ice Dogs were an American professional ice hockey team based in Long Beach, California at the Long Beach Sports Arena. They played until the end of the 2006–07 ECHL season.
History
The Ice Dogs trace their origins to the San Die ...
,
Kansas City Blades
The Kansas City Blades were a professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League (1945–2001), International Hockey League (IHL) from 1990 until 2001, when the league folded. The Blades were based in Kansas City, Missouri, at Kempe ...
, and
Flint Generals
The Flint Generals were a minor professional ice hockey team based in Flint, Michigan. They were a member of the International Hockey League and played their home games at Perani Arena and Event Center. The Generals won two league championship ...
of the
International Hockey League. In 2006-07 he was a
player-assistant coach with the
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees of the
Central Hockey League
The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...
. Cirone had two stints overseas for
Asiago HC on the
Italian Ice Hockey League
Italian Hockey League - Serie A, formerly known as Serie A, is the top tier of professional ice hockey in Italy, which first began play in 1925. They are conducted under the authority of the Federazione Italiana Sport del Ghiaccio (FISG). The leag ...
in 1992-93 and then again from 2001-2006, and the
Frankfurt Lions
The Frankfurt Lions were a German professional men's ice hockey club from Frankfurt, Germany that played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The club ceased operations in 2010 due to financial difficulty.
History
The hockey team was founded as a se ...
of the
German Ice Hockey League in 2000-01. Cirone also spent two seasons playing
roller hockey for the
Buffalo Stampede
The Buffalo Stampede was a basketball team in the Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League (ACPBL) that started as a franchise in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) in the 2009 season. The team was originally the NexxNow Buffalo Dragons (c ...
in 1994 and 1995.
Cirone holds an Italian passport, and played in the
2006 Winter Olympics in
Turin, Italy
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...
as a member of the
Italian team.
Coaching career
Cirone is currently the head coach of the Midland University Men's Hockey team located in Fremont, Nebraska. Cirone was previously the head coach of the
Metro Jets
The Metro Jets are a non-sanctioned junior ice hockey team that plays their home games at Mount Clemens Ice Arena in Mount Clemens, Michigan. They are members of the Great Lakes Conference in the United States Premier Hockey League's Premier Div ...
of the
North American 3 Hockey League
The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) is an American Tier III junior ice hockey league that consists of teams from Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New Yor ...
located in
Waterford, Michigan
Waterford Township is a charter township in the geographic center of Oakland County, Michigan, United States.
In 2020, the population of Waterford Township was 70,565.
Communities
Waterford Township has five unincorporated communities:
* Cl ...
. He also had previously served as an assistant coach for the Jets.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
International
References
External links
*
1971 births
Living people
Asiago Hockey 1935 players
Birmingham Bulls (ECHL) players
Buffalo Stampede players
Canadian people of Italian descent
Canadian ice hockey centres
Cincinnati Cyclones (IHL) players
Cornwall Royals players
Flint Generals players
Frankfurt Lions players
Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Kansas City Blades players
Long Beach Ice Dogs (IHL) players
Los Angeles Ice Dogs players
Moncton Hawks players
Olympic ice hockey players of Italy
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees players
Rochester Americans players
Sportspeople from Toronto
Windsor Spitfires players
Winnipeg Jets (1979–1996) draft picks
Winnipeg Jets (1979–1996) players
{{Italy-icehockey-bio-stub