PTC all stars form friendship on the ice

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

There is not a lot of ice in Fayette County. Thus, there is not a lot of ice hockey.

However, there are a lot of northern transplants in the south, people with a connection to the ice and the sports associated with it. Therefore, ice hockey is growing in popularity. There are several ice rinks in the metro Atlanta area and that is where two boys from Peachtree City met for the first time.

Alec Maniatis, 10, is a Kedron Elementary School student and a Southlake Shark. David Puterbaugh, 11, is a student at Booth Middle School and is a Kennesaw Warhawk. Both boys have recently been selected to the Ice Forum Hockey Association All Star team and have formed a friendship. More importantly, their parents have formed a carpool.

Maniatis lived in Michigan and Illinois before moving down south, while Puterbaugh's family is originally from Ohio. Both boys started playing hockey at a very young age and did not want to give up the sport.

Their dedication and their parent's dedication is incredible. Some of their games and practices take place at 6 a.m. in Kennesaw, which means getting up at 4:30 in the morning to make practice on time. Other days the practice or game is after school, so the boys will hop in the car after school and head north of Atlanta. They have become experts at doing their homework in the car and are both honor roll students.

The commitment to hockey not only consists of giving up a lot of time, but it is also a very expensive sport. Fees and equipment may cost up to $1,000 and though the boys like to play several other sports, such as baseball and basketball, but when there is a conflict between the two sports, they have made more of a commitment to playing hockey.

Both Maniatis and Puterbaugh skate approximately four days a week. They practice at least twice a week and usually play two games a week. Now that they are all stars that number has increased. The boys are excited about playing teams from all over the southeast but are really looking forward to moving up to the Pee Wee league next year because checking will be allowed.

Maniatis's favorite player is Sergei Federov, while puterbaugh prefers the tough play of Brian Leech.

That must please their coach and director of the All Star program, Jann Kaminsky, who played with Leech and the New York Rangers. Kaminsky has been instrumental in developing ice rinks and a solid hockey program in the south.

Maniatis and Puterbaugh are enjoying the fact that they have met someone else in Peachtree City that enjoys hockey as much as they do.

They are also looking forward to an exciting season where they will play not as opponents but as teammates.

Next year, they are looking forward to checking each other during the regular season.

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