ORHC Hockey Skills Academy
Meet The Instructors
Registration for the 2019/20 ORHC Hockey Skills Academy will open soon!
Jason Pinizzotto | Instructor
Jason began his career in 1996 as an underage player with the Oakville Blades Jr. 'A' club where he led the team with 21 goals adding 30 assists for 51 points in 47 games. By 1997 he was drafted in the 3rd round, 47th overall by the OHL Barrie Colts. He played 2 years in the OHL before returning to Jr. 'A' where he registered 140 points in a single season, ranking him the 3rd highest points scorer to date in Ontario Jr. 'A'. Jason was one of the two top goal scorers with over 50 goals a season in the Ontario Junior Hockey League in his final year before heading to York University.
At York, Jason achieved Rookie of the year honors in the 2001-2002 season and led his team to an OUA Mid-West Division Championship and took part in the CIS National Championships. In 2003, the York Lions won the OUA Championship. After four years with the York Lions, with over a point a game with 117 points in 102 games, Jason left to play the 2005-06 season in Germany where he continued to play for a total of 13 years.
While playing in Germany, Jason picked up 33 points in 31 games in his first season and 71 points in 52 games in his second season, securing him a spot on the 2007-08 DEG Metro Stars team in Germany’s elite league. Jason made 56 appearances with the DEG Metro Stars team that season scoring 16 points.
Jason then went on to spend four years with the Schwenninger Wild Wings organization in the German Hockey League. During his time with the Wild Wings, he played a total of 181 games capturing 168 points with 85 goals and 83 assists in regular season play. His stats remained high in the team’s playoff run with 51 games gaining 29 goals and 13 assists.
Jason won the DEL2 Championship in 2015 and officially ranks 2nd in DEL2 All-Time goal scoring. Jason retired from professional hockey in 2018.
Steve Pinizzotto | INSTRUCTOR
Steve played four seasons with the Oakville Blades Jr. 'A' club recording 78 goals, 137 assists, and 215 points over 170 games to lead the team with the best plus-minus rating during his tenure with the Blades.
After graduating from the Blades, Steve continued on to the NCAA where he played 2 years with the RIT Tigers. While there, Pinizzotto was the team leader and among the RIT Division I leaders, recording 22 goals and 40 assists for 62 points in 58 career games.
In March 2007, Steve became the first RIT ice hockey player to sign an NHL contract, signing a two-year entry level contract with the Washington Capitals.
Steve played for the Hershey Bears in the AHL over 5 seasons, winning 2 Calder Cup Championships in the process and finishing with a +40 rating in 2010. He moved on to sign with the Vancouver Canucks, where he played his first NHL regular season game in 2012. He later signed with the Edmonton Oilers, registering a 'Gordie Howe Hat Trick' in his first game. Steve played several more years in the NHL/AHL before taking his talents to the DEL in Germany, where he won 3 consecutive Championships with Red Bull Munich. Steve retired from the Cologne Sharks (Kolner Haie) in the DEL in 2018-2019 season.
Marc Pinizzotto | Instructor
Marc played Jr. 'B' for the Stoney Creek Spirit in the Golden Horseshoe Junior Hockey League where he led the team in points and was later selected as the only rookie to play in the All Star Game. He finished the league as the top rookie points leader. The following season he played for the Oakville Blades Jr 'A' club, where he would spend 4 seasons, scoring 145 points in 160 games. He was named Captain in his last year, where he finished with 1.25 points per game. He later played for the Erfurt Black Dragons in the German Oberliga.
Rob Honighan | Instructor
Rob has an impressive and extensive history within both the Professional and Minor hockey communities. His coaching career began 30 years ago in the GTHL (then MTHL) mostly as a Head Coach for the AAA Mississauga Reps through various age groups. He also spent 13 years as an OHL Scout, working with the London Knights, Saginaw Spirit and was employed as the Director of Scouting for the Oshawa Generals for 4 years. Additionally Rob scouted for the NHL Florida Panthers in 2002/03. Rob has coached and mentored many high level players who have later played professionally, all the way up to the NHL. Rob is an HP1 (High Performance) certified coach and is currently coaching minor hockey at the rep level.
Kelli Aquino | Instructor
Kelli has spent the last 5 years as a Hockey Instructor in addition to coaching Rep and House League Hockey for an additional 4 years. She has her D1 Coaching Certificate, HTCP Trainers Certificate, and grew up playing Rep Hockey. Kelli loves instructing kids and says "there's no better feeling than seeing players improve and helping them find their love for this sport". Kelli will specialize in the development of our Jr. Timbit and Initiation Programs.