Gaetano Orlando

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Flag of Canada and Italy.svg  Gaetano Orlando Ice hockey player
Gaetano Orlando
Date of birth November 13, 1962
place of birth LaSalle , Québec , Canada
Nickname Gates
size 177 cm
Weight 83 kg
position center
Shot hand Right
Draft
NHL Entry Draft 1981 , 8th round, 164th position
Buffalo Sabers
Career stations
1979-1980 Junior de Montréal
1980-1984 Providence College
1984-1987 Buffalo Sabers
Rochester Americans
1987-1988 HC Merano
1988 Rochester Americans
1988-1991 HC Bolzano
1991-1994 HC Devils Milano / AC Milan
1994-1998 SC Bern
1998 SC Langnau
SG Cortina
1998-1999 HC Lugano

Gaetano "Gates" Orlando (born November 13, 1962 in LaSalle , Québec ) is a former Italian - Canadian ice hockey player and coach as well as current - scout , who played over 800 games in the top leagues between 1979 and 1999 North America and Europe has contested on the position of the center . Orlando, who also played over 100 games for the Italian national team after his naturalization , won numerous national championship titles in Italy and Switzerland . Since the 2004/05 season he has worked as a scout for the New Jersey Devils from the National Hockey League .

Career

Born in LaSalle , a suburb of the Franco-Canadian metropolis of Montreal at the time , Orlando began his junior career in the 1979/80 season, initially in the Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec with the Junior de Montréal . There the striker was extremely successful in his rookie season with 72 scorer points in 70 appearances. Nevertheless, despite the successful start in the junior league, he decided against a further engagement in the LHJMQ after the season. Instead, he received a scholarship at Providence College , where he studies in the next four years, management science pursued. At the same time, he ran for the university's ice hockey team, which was supervised by Lou Lamoriello , in the National Collegiate Athletic Association . There the team played in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference . In the service of the Friars - the nickname of the Providences college team - the Italian-born Canadian spent extremely successful years. In his freshman year , Orlando won the ECAC championship with the team, to which he contributed 56 points. After a mixed second year as a sophomore , he was able to collect numerous individual successes in the second half of his college days, including multiple appointments in all-star teams of the ECAC and NCAA. In his final year of play, in which he led the Friars on the ice as team captain, he was named the best college striker in the New England area . This also led to his being nominated as one of ten finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award for best college player in the country.

After Orlando had already been selected in the eighth round in the eighth round of the 1981 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabers from the National Hockey League , they brought him into the professional field after completing his studies in the spring of 1984. At the end of the 1983/84 season he made his debut for Buffalo's farm team , the Rochester Americans , in the American Hockey League , where he collected 15 points in eleven regular season appearances and 14 more in 18 playoff appearances over the rest of the season . The following game year began the rookie also in Rochester, but he was appointed to the NHL squad of the Sabers for the first time in early November 1984 after a few appearances. He made two assists on his debut against the Boston Bruins . Overall, it remained in the course of the season including the playoffs only 16 missions, in which he collected 13 points. He continued to spend most of the year in Rochester with the Americans. It was not until the 1985/86 season that Orlando managed to establish itself over the game year in the NHL. In the season 1986/87 the center forward finally commuted again between Buffalo and Rochester, where he led the Americans as top scorer of the AHL playoffs to win the Calder Cup .

Following the season, Orlando turned down a new contract offer from the Buffalo Sabers because he did not want to continue playing for the farm team in the AHL. The free agent then received a lucrative offer from HC Meran from the Italian A1 series , which he ultimately accepted - also due to his Italian ancestry. In his first year in the Italian elite class, he led the team to win the runner-up. After the end of the season in Europe, he briefly returned to the United States to support his former club from Rochester in defending the title of the Calder Cup, which failed. His performances in the A1 series with 110 points scorer in 46 appearances were not ignored by the other teams, and so the center switched to league rivals HC Bozen in the summer of 1988 . After a two-year approach, Orlando won the Italian championship with the South Tyroleans, whose squad also included Mark Napier , Bruno Zarrillo and Ron Flockhart . After the unsuccessful title defense in the 1990/91 season , which ended with the runner-up, the native Canadian left the HCB and joined the financially strong HC Devils Milano , which was supported by entrepreneur Silvio Berlusconi . Orlando spent the three most successful years of his involvement in Italy there and at its successor club, AC Milan. In his first year with the Milanese, he won the double from the Italian championship and won the newly formed Alpine League . He was also the most valuable player in Serie A1. In playing years 1992/93 and 1993/94 , the Devils and AC Milan repeated the championship win, and Orlando was again the most valuable player in the league in 1994.

For the 1994-95 season left the 31-year-old Italy and moved to the Swiss National League A for SC Bern . After there had only been enough to win the runner-up in the spring of 1996 in the first two seasons, the right- shooter completed an outstanding year in the 1996/97 season . As the top scorer in the main round and the playoffs, he led the SCB to the Swiss championship title . He himself was recognized as the most valuable player in the NLA for his achievements. After another year in Bern, which, however, ended with the early exit from the playoffs, Orlando is initially started the SC Langnau from the B National League borrow. He supported this in the promotion round to the NLA in four games. With five points, he was jointly responsible for the Emmental's return to the NLA after ten years of abstinence. After this success he played - also on loan - two more games for SG Cortina in the playoffs of the Italian Serie A1. His three goals could not prevent his ex-club from Bozen from being eliminated.

After four years in Bern, Orlando was looking for a new challenge and played his last year in professional sport in the service of HC Lugano in the NLA. With this he won his second national championship title in Switzerland, for which he scored the decisive goal in each of the last three finals. In the summer of 1999 he retired from ice hockey after 20 years as an active player. The Italian-Canadian then returned to North America to pursue a career as a coach , having already gained experience in this position with the Italian national team in the three previous years . He returned to the organization of his former club Rochester Americans and worked there in the 1999/2000 season as the head coach of the Rochester Junior Americans in the junior league North American Hockey League . This was followed by two years as head coach in the men's area at the Adirondack IceHawks in the United Hockey League , in which he qualified for the playoffs. The seasons 2002/03 and 2003/04 he finally spent as assistant coach of the Albany River Rats in the AHL, for which he once again laced the skates for an encounter in the second year.

With the beginning of the 2004/05 season Orlando was hired as a scout with the New Jersey Devils from the NHL. There he worked for scouting in the professional sector until 2010 and since then for the amateur sector. This period was overshadowed by a serious heart disease in Orlando. Orlando suffered a seven-minute cardiac arrest during routine surgery in Rochester , home in April 2012 . This resulted in him being kept alive for ten months while waiting for a donor heart with an artificial heart . At the time of the intervention, it was still in the trial phase with little chance of success. The Italian-Canadian has been living with a donor heart since February 2013.

International

After his naturalization, Orlando was an integral part of the Italian national team for the next nine years until the end of his career at the beginning of the B World Cup in 1990 . Orlando formed a series of attacks in the 1990s with Bruno Zarrillo and Lucio Topatigh , one of the best in the history of the Squadra Azzurra and who played a key role in the good world championship placements during this period.

The Italian-Canadian made his mark on the tournament at his first international appearance at the 1990 B World Cup in France . In seven tournament appearances he scored 13 points , including nine goals. He was awarded top scorer and top scorer of the competition as well as best striker and was appointed to the All-Star team. Nevertheless, the team missed promotion to the A group after a defeat against Switzerland . However, this succeeded in the following year , when Orlando with twelve points had a significant share in the return to the A World Championship. With the striker, the Italian team established themselves in the A group in the following years and achieved sixth place at the 1994 home world championship, the best placement in their 64-year history to date.

The native Canadian celebrated his greatest international successes with his participation in the Winter Olympics in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway, and in Nagano, Japan in 1998 . Overall, Orlando also completed ten World Cup tournaments in a row for Italy between 1990 and 1999, eight of them in the A group. Between 1997 and 1999 he already acted as a playing assistant coach under the then national coach Bryan Lefley and his successor Adolf Insam . When he withdrew from ice hockey, the attacker had played 112 international matches, in which he had collected 113 points. These included 60 World Cup games and eleven in the Olympic ice hockey tournament .

Style of play

Orlando was considered a player with a great will to fight and shaped his career as a leader. On the other hand, his stick game and his skating qualities were less pronounced. His understanding of the game was positively highlighted. His fighting qualities underline his statement when he was active at SC Bern: "I can no longer walk, I can hardly sit, but I can still do it on my skates!"

Achievements and Awards

International

  • 1990 Top scorer in the B World Championship
  • 1990 Top scorer in the B World Cup
  • 1990 Best striker in the B World Championship
  • 1990 World B Championship All-Star Team
  • 1991 Promotion to the A world championship at the B world championship
  • 1991 All-Star Team of the B World Championship

Career statistics

Regular season Play-offs
season team league Sp T V Pt SM Sp T V Pt SM
1979/80 Junior de Montréal LHJMQ 70 28 44 72 50 9 6th 5 11 8th
1980/81 Providence College ECAC 31 24 32 56 45
1981/82 Providence College ECAC 28 18th 18th 36 31
1982/83 Providence College ECAC 40 30th 39 69 32
1983/84 Providence College ECAC 34 23 30th 53 52
1983/84 Rochester Americans AHL 11 8th 7th 15th 2 18th 4th 10 14th 6th
1984/85 Buffalo Sabers NHL 11 3 6th 9 6th 5 0 4th 4th 13
1984/85 Rochester Americans AHL 49 26th 30th 56 62 2 0 1 1 6th
1985/86 Buffalo Sabers NHL 60 13 12 25th 29 - - - - -
1985/86 Rochester Americans AHL 3 4th 0 4th 10 - - - - -
1986/87 Buffalo Sabers NHL 27 2 8th 10 16 - - - - -
1986/87 Rochester Americans AHL 44 22nd 42 64 42 18th 9 13 22nd 14th
1987/88 HC Merano Series A1 36 49 44 93 66 10 10 7th 17th 23
1987/88 Rochester Americans AHL 13 4th 13 17th 18th 7th 2 6th 8th 6th
1988/89 HC Bolzano Series A1 34 40 39 79 66 10 17th 6th 23 0
1989/90 HC Bolzano Series A1 36 64 62 126 18th 6th 8th 10 18th 6th
1990/91 HC Bolzano Series A1 27 39 33 72 29 10 8th 15th 23 12
1991/92 HC Devils Milano Series A1 18th 21st 22nd 43 12 11 11 17th 28 42
1991/92 HC Devils Milano Alpine League 11 8th 7th 15th 2
1992/93 HC Devils Milano Series A1 16 9 18th 27 14th 11 5 9 14th 23
1992/93 HC Devils Milano Alpine League 25th 19th 27 46 46
1993/94 AC Milan Series A1 20th 16 44 60 10 8th 8th 10 18th 27
1993/94 AC Milan Alpine League 30th 16 31 47 29
1994/95 SC Bern NLA 36 24 31 55 58 6th 3 7th 10 8th
1995/96 SC Bern NLA 34 15th 26th 41 62 11 10 8th 18th 45
1996/97 SC Bern NLA 46 26th 56 82 34 13 7th 10 17th 12
1997/98 SC Bern NLA 38 16 32 48 73 7th 6th 3 9 18th
1997/98 SC Langnau NLA qual - - - - - 4th 1 4th 5 8th
1997/98 SG Cortina Series A1 - - - - - 2 3 0 3 4th
1998/99 HC Lugano NLA 27 12 20th 32 34 11 6th 5 11 10
1999/00 without a contract not played after resignation
2000/01 without a contract not played after resignation
2001/02 without a contract not played after resignation
2002/03 without a contract not played after resignation
2003/04 Albany River Rats AHL 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - -
NCAA overall 133 95 119 214 160
AHL total 121 64 92 156 134 45 15th 30th 45 32
NHL overall 98 18th 26th 44 51 5 0 4th 4th 14th
Series A overall 187 238 262 500 215 68 70 74 144 137
Alpine league overall 66 43 65 108 77
National League A overall 181 93 165 258 261 48 32 33 65 93

International

Represented Italy at:

year team event result Sp T V Pt SM
1990 Italy B-WM 2nd place 7th 9 4th 13 6th
1991 Italy B-WM 1st place 7th 8th 4th 12 2
1992 Italy WM 12th place 5 0 3 3 4th
1993 Italy WM 8th place 6th 1 0 1 2
1994 Italy Olympia 9th place 7th 3 6th 9 4th
1994 Italy WM 6th place 6th 3 4th 7th 6th
1995 Italy WM 7th place 6th 1 2 3 12
1996 Italy WM 7th place 6th 2 5 7th 6th
1997 Italy WM 8th place 8th 5 4th 9 14th
1998 Italy Olympia 12th place 4th 1 2 3 4th
1998 Italy WM 10th place 6th 3 2 5 2
1999 Italy WM 13th place 3 0 1 1 4th
Men overall 71 36 37 73 66

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Joe Pelletier: Buffalo Sabers Legends: Gates Orlando. greatesthockeylegends.com, February 2011, accessed September 11, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Marco Oppliger: When Orlando caused awe. Berner Zeitung , April 9, 2015, accessed on September 11, 2017 .
  3. ↑ a b Philipp Muschg: "Otherwise I would be dead now". Tages-Anzeiger , March 28, 2017, accessed September 11, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Martin Megert: 111 reasons to love SC Bern . A declaration of love to the greatest ice hockey club in the world. 1st edition. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 2017, ISBN 978-3-86265-653-0 , pp. 180-181 .
personal data
SURNAME Orlando, Gaetano
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Orlando, Gates
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian-Canadian ice hockey player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH LaSalle , Quebec