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

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

executive, and former professional player. A native of

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 88,071 at the 2016 census. It is part of the St. Catharines - Niagara Census M ...

, he played junior ice hockey 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; french: Sports universitaires de l'Ontario) is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providin ...

, the

Professional Hockey Players' Association The Professional Hockey Players' Association, or PHPA, is the labor union that represents the interests of hockey players in the American Hockey League and ECHL, the two largest minor leagues in North American professional ice hockey. Established i ...

, the

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

, 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 was listed as the 7th best d ...

. 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 championship in 1973.

Playing career

Morocco played hockey as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, and was a left-handed shooter. He was listed as and . He began playing junior ice hockey in the 1978–79 season with the

Fort Erie Meteors The Fort Erie Meteors are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Golden Horseshoe division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. History The Meteors originated in the Niagara District ...

at age 15. His team won the

Niagara District Junior B Hockey League {, class="infobox" style=" text-align:center; border:1px solid #8Af; font-size: 95%;" , - , colspan="2" , , - ! colspan="2" style="background-color:#acf;", OHA Junior "B" , - style="background-color:#def;" , , WJBHL , , (1950-1968) , - style=" ...

championship, and he won the league's rookie of the year award. During the 1979–80 season, Morocco played for the

Aurora Tigers The Aurora Tigers are a Canadian ice hockey team from Aurora, Ontario. They play in the Ontario Junior Hockey League. The team has previously played in the Metro Junior A Hockey League, Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League, and the Ontario Jun ...

in the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League, 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. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

, and was selected fourteenth overall in 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 ...

(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. ...

, 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. History The North Bay Centennials or "Cents" as they were popularly known, were named afte ...

. Attending

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

, 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. 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, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...

and the

1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...

. 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

, 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. 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 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 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 of Italy Ontario Junior Hockey League Ontario University Athletics ice hockey players Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds players Sports labor leaders Sportspeople from Niagara Falls, Ontario York Lions players