Rick Morocco (born February 14, 1963) is a Canadian-Italian

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) 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. Tw ...

executive, and former professional player. A native of

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada, adjacent to, and named after, Niagara Falls. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, the city had a population of 94,415. The city is located on the Niagara Peninsula along the western bank of the ...

, he played

junior ice hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from ...

in Ontario, before winning a national university championship with the

York Lions The York Lions is the official name for the athletic varsity teams that represent York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference of U Sports and, where applicable ...

. During six seasons of professional hockey in Italy, he also played for the Italy men's national team at the World Championships and Winter Olympics. After his playing career, he served as an executive for

Ontario University Athletics Ontario University Athletics (OUA; ) is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providing contact information, schedules, results, ...

, the Professional Hockey Players' Association, the

Canadian Junior Hockey League The Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) is an association of Canadian junior ice hockey#Junior A, junior A ice hockey leagues and teams and was formed in November 1993, emerging from the Canada West Association of Junior 'A' Hockey. The champi ...

, and the

Ontario Junior Hockey League The Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada. It is under the supervision of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The league dates back to 1954 where i ...

. He was inducted into the Niagara Falls Sports Wall of Fame in 2005.

Early life

Rick Morocco was born on February 14, 1963, in

. He played

as a youth, and won an

Ontario Minor Hockey Association The Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) is a minor ice hockey governing body in Ontario. The OMHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation and Hockey Canada. History The OMHA was founded on November 30, 1940, after a merger of the Onta ...

championship in 1973.

Playing career

Morocco played hockey as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, and was a left-handed shooter. He was listed as and . He began playing

in the 1978–79 season with the Fort Erie Meteors at age 15. His team won the Niagara District Junior B Hockey League championship, and he won the league's rookie of the year award. During the 1979–80 season, Morocco played for the Aurora Tigers in the

Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League The Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada. It is under the supervision of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The league dates back to 1954 where i ...

, and scored 24 goals and 26 assists in 38 games. After the season, he was offered a hockey scholarship to

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, and was selected fourteenth overall in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

(OHL) draft. During three seasons in the OHL, he played for the

Kitchener Rangers The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The Rangers have won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL ...

, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds,

Niagara Falls Flyers The Niagara Falls Flyers were two junior ice hockey franchises that played in the top tier in the Ontario Hockey Association. The first, a Junior "A" team existed from 1960 until 1972, and the second in Tier I Junior "A" from 1976 until 1982. B ...

, and

North Bay Centennials The North Bay Centennials were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, who played from 1982–2002. The team was based in North Bay, Ontario, Canada. History The North Bay Centennials or "Cents" as they were popularly known, were na ...

. Attending

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

, Morocco played three hockey seasons for the

from 1984 to 1987. With the Lions, he won three

titles, and the CIAU University Cup as national champion in 1985. Morocco played six seasons of professional hockey in the Italian Hockey League first division from 1987 to 1993, which included tenures with Alleghe Hockey, HC Merano, and

HC Devils Milano HC Devils Milano were an ice hockey team in Milan, Italy. They played in the Serie A. History The club dominated the Serie A between 1991 and 1994, winning three straight titles. They also participated in, and won, the Alpenliga in 1991. NHL pl ...

. He also played for the Italy men's national team at the

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the I ...

and the

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

. Morocco was inducted into the Niagara Falls Sports Wall of Fame in 2005.

Executive career

After his playing career, Morocco served as executive director of the

, director of player relations of the Professional Hockey Players' Association, and managing director of the Niagara Falls International Marathon. He was named the first executive director of the

in February 2014. He served in the role until September 2016, when succeeded by

Brent Ladds Brent Ladds (born 1951) is a Canadian former ice hockey administrator. He served as president of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) from 2016 to 2022, president of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) from 1980 to 2012, commissioner of Al ...

. Morocco later served as the director of business development and events for the

as of 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morocco, Rick 1963 births Living people Aurora Tigers players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Italy Canadian Junior Hockey League Canadian sports executives and administrators HC Alleghe players HC Merano players HC Milano players Ice hockey people from Niagara Falls, Ontario Ice hockey players at the 1992 Winter Olympics Italian ice hockey left wingers Kitchener Rangers players Niagara Falls Flyers players North Bay Centennials players Olympic ice hockey players for Italy Ontario Junior Hockey League Ontario University Athletics ice hockey players Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds players Sports labor leaders York Lions players