We catch up with my buddy Pete LaMonica about his early days in hockey and how he really didn't play travel hockey and really got into the game during his junior and senior year of high school. He only played one year of travel hockey at the Junior "C" level. 

He played at Paramus Catholic because he felt it gave him more opportunities to play the game of hockey at a decent level. Pete also felt his education would be better at PC. 

Pete decided to play at IONA College and felt it was a good fit for him from academics to athletics. The jump in play was very good. Lot's of players who could play at the division one level but thought they would be better at the division three level of play. One thing that his coach at IONA college was ahead of his time in the mid-80's was dry land training. Frank Effinger really had the guys on the team work on conditioning and working off the ice. 

When Pete finished at IONA, his coach got him a tryout with the New York Rangers free agent camp. The one thing he said that he learned from these guys is how to play without the puck. He got cut but wound up in the minors playing for John Tortorella. Great stories of playing for him and how he coached his players. 

It is a great listen.