Craig Patrick's team wins 3ICE opener in Pittsburgh

Craig Patrick won two Stanley Cup titles in his 17 seasons as the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He was victorious again in the greater Pittsburgh area Wednesday night and was part of an event that helped the Robert Morris hockey programs.

Team Patrick defeated Team Fuhr, 8-1, in the championship game to kick off the second season for the 3ICE 3-on-3 hockey league in front of a standing-room-only crowd at RMU Island Sports Center.

“The crowd was awesome,” Patrick said. “I’m thrilled for our guys that we drafted for our team. They did a great job. Six of them are rookies, so it was nice to see them do well in their first week out.”

All proceeds from Wednesday’s event will benefit the Robert Morris men’s and women’s hockey teams. Both will be back in action this fall after a two-year hiatus.

The men’s team plays its first game Oct. 8 at home against Bowling Green, and the women start on the road against Union before their home opener Oct. 7 against Saint Anslem.

“We’re excited they’re coming back,” Patrick said. “We were hoping to play at PPG (Paints Arena), but we couldn’t because of the renovations going on there. This was a great option to be able to help the program out. It worked out really well.”

There were four teams in attendance. They were coached by former NHL players/coaches Patrick, Guy Carbonneau, Grant Fuhr and Eddie Johnston.

Johnston was the Penguins general manager when Mario Lemieux was drafted in 1984. He also had a stint as the Penguins’ coach from 1993-97 before returning to the front office until 2009.

Each game consisted of two eight-minute periods with a running clock.

“It’s really exciting,” Patrick said. “It’s all action, all the time and I think the fans appreciate that. Everywhere we went last year the fans said they were happy that we brought the product to them. They enjoyed it, and I think the fans enjoyed it here tonight.”

Team Patrick raced out to a 6-0 lead in the first period of the championship game.

Brandon Pirri and Gordie Green scored two goals each in the first period, and Owen Headrick and Ty Pelton-Bice had one each. Pirri finished off his hat trick, and Alex Kyle added a goal for Team Patrick in the second period. Zack Kamrass had the lone goal for Team Fuhr.

Team Fuhr defeated Team Carbonneau, 7-3, in the first semifinal. Team Patrick got past Team Johnston, 4-2, in the second semifinal. Team Carbonneau won the consolation game 6-5.

Mt. Lebanon grad Tyler Murovich had a hat trick in the consolation game for Team Carbonneau.

He currently owns and operates the IC youth hockey program at Ice Castle Arena. The players from the Pittsburgh Predators youth team Murovich coaches were in attendance.

“It’s special to be here tonight,” Murovich said in an on-ice postgame interview. “I played with a lot of the guys in this league, some of them in junior hockey. A lot of the kids I coach are here tonight, and that’s pretty cool.”

Wednesday was the first of six stops on the 3ICE schedule prior to the championship game August 12 in Philadelphia. They’ll also have events in Hershey, Newark, Grand Rapids, Boston and Clarksville (Tenn.).