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SAIT Trojan Tommy T stays on a roll of gold
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CALGARY (August 9, 2010)— Tommy Tartaglione just keeps rolling along.
Back in mid-March, the Californian goaltender helped the SAIT Trojans win their fourth consecutive Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) gold medal in men's hockey. Now, he's on top of the world after winning gold with Team USA in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) inline world championships in July at Karlstad, Sweden.
The Americans shaded the Czech Republic 4-3 in the championship final to win their fifth IIHF gold medal. It was the first international gold for Tartaglione, who netminded three of the six Team USA games. Tartaglione had previously scored silver with USA last summer in Ingolstadt, Germany, before heading to Calgary and trying out for the Trojans -- eventually beating out Landon Kroeker and Ryan Nieszner during the 2009-10 season for the starter's job between the SAIT pipes.
Tartaglione, who grew up in Harbor City, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles, has played roller hockey since he was eight years old.
"Roller hockey is faster, with more open space. Each team has four players (on the playing surface) at a time. The hitting is limited, and there are a lot of odd-man rushes," notes Tartaglione, known as Tommy T, who played with the Regina Pats, Vancouver Giants, and Prince George Cougars of the major junior Western Hockey League. "It's more exciting. As a goaltender, you stay on your feet more -- you can't slide on the floor. It's a lot easier to score on goalies."
The roller hockey community is a small world. Tartaglione has previously played with or against many of the players on gold-medal-winning Team USA.
Following that gold-medal win in Sweden, Tartaglione was joined by four of his American teammates on the Mission Axiom squad at the North American Roller Hockey Championships (NARCh) in San Jose, Calif., which wrapped up on Aug. 1. The annual tournament attracts dozens of roller hockey teams competing at various skill levels. And while he still hasn't won a NARCh title, Tartaglione proved a star at this tournament, too, copping top-goalie honours in the Pro Division and the Pro Skills Competition event.
Through his years on wheels and blades, Tartaglione has been a fan favourite for his bubbly personality and his unorthodox style, but he backed that up with impressive stats with the Trojans last winter. Tartaglione led all goalies in ACAC playoffs with a 2.23 goals-against average and a 92.1 save percentage.
Tartaglione has brought his IIHF gold medal and NARCh goaltender awards with him back to Calgary. He's helping out as an instructor in August during the SAIT Trojans' hockey sport camps, and preparing for his second season with the Trojans.
Thanks to his IIHF accolades, says Tartaglione, "now I have even more of the championship attitude that I have learned at SAIT. I know what it takes to win."
