By Brittany Burke

The hockey team came together over break off the ice to hang coats as part of a winter coat drive as a way to repay Dan Siracusa for his generosity toward the club team. During the winter recess Dan Siracusa donated $5,000 to the hockey club to help with team fees.

“The reason why we did this, was our token of appreciation because he donated five-thousand dollars to the team to use toward whatever we needed. The five-thousand will help with that trip to Florida [to play Florida Gulf Coast], it’s gonna help pay ref fees and the coach bus fees but we had a lot of fun doing that,” said club treasurer Kevin Leaver.

However, the most generous of human beings often times do not wish to be recognized. Instead they let their generosity speak for them. Such the case with club team, which as part of the CCSU campus community is still struggling to find ways to pay its substantial budget.

“My uncle, he’s a big contributor to Central,” said Matt Siracusa. “He gives a lot of money back, Dan Siracusa, he owns Siracusa Moving and Storage right in New Britain and our team was in need of some money and he generously gave us a good amount of money and to repay him we helped with his charity.”

The CCSU club hockey team has been given $5,000 in funding from the Student Government Association and is currently waiting to hear whether or not the team’s contingency request will be granted, after the request was shelved at the end of the fall semester.

In the mean time the team has worked to raise money on their own in the form of an Outback Steakhouse luncheon and Applebee’s breakfast. The breakfast found the hockey players casting aside their sticks, gloves and skates for an apron and coffee pot as they transformed from college hockey players to waiters.

“He told me when he was back at school at central he was the treasurer for Student Government and he knows how all that works and he heard that we didn’t get too much money and he definitely definitely helped us,” said Matt Siracusa of his uncle Dan Siracusa.

Despite the efforts, the team’s projected budget is still upward of $85,000. Over the winter break the team was the product of someone else’s generosity, helping them alleviate a portion of their owed dues.

Dan Siracusa is one of those rare men who would prefer for their generosity to speak for them. As an alumnus of CCSU and uncle to Blue Devil forward, Matt Siracusa, Dan Siracusa donated the money to the CCSU hockey team to help with the remainder of the season.

“I can’t say enough about my uncle, he’s quite a guy,” said Matt Siracusa.  “I run into people all the time who know my last name because of him and they have nothing but good things to say about him and he doesn’t do it for exposure or anything he does it because he has a big heart.”

Over winter break the hockey players came together to help the Siracusas in an annual coat drive started by Dan Siracusa to help those less fortunate.

When Matt Siracusa approached the team during winter practice looking for a minimal of five players to help him and his uncle he was surprised to find that not only had five gone to help, but 15.

The teammates spent the day in the warehouse hanging jackets by the hundreds. A job that would have taken Dan Sircusa a few days was done in a couple of hours with the help of the CCSU athletes.

“We went over to the warehouse, went upstairs and he thought there was three or four more days ahead of him but we actually finished everything and like I said before there was upwards of two thousand coats probably a little but more, it was a great.”

Not only were the athletes able to help those in need, but they were also able to come together as a team. The 15 players were able to bond while hanging the jackets, which will transfer to how they play and interact with one another out onto the ice.

“It definitely put a smile on a lot of people’s faces. I’ve done it with him before I’ve delivered the coats to the people and the little kids they’re just so excited… the moms usually cry and thank you and everything, it’s great and the nice part about it, all the guys on the team, no one complained I wasn’t expecting them to, but they were high spirited and they really felt nice helping out the community and it’s really nice to do that with your team.”

What Dan Siracusa did and what the hockey players spent their day doing may not seem like a lot, but both actions will make a insurmountable difference in multiple lives.