March 18, 2008

I just returned home after an extremely painful and difficult trip to Atlanta to be with Greg. Greg died yesterday morning after a long battle with major health issues. I was with Greg when he died and am still in a bit of shock. I plan to fly to NY Friday morning for his funeral and will return on Sunday.

There will be a “viewing” this Friday night at Colonial Funeral Home – Staten Island, NY. Here’s some information for you, click on Greg’s name: Funeral Site

There is a guestbook for leaving messages as well on the funeral home website.

We are asking in lieu of flowers – that contributions be sent to a fund we are establishing to assist youth hockey players financially in the form of scholarships. In addition to coaching GT for 17-years, Greg also owned and ran the largest hockey pro shop in the south east – Hockey Time USA…and if that was not enough, he also ran a huge in-line hockey league at his own rink. When families did not have enough money to pay for their son or daughter to play in the league, Greg offered them a “scholarship” which he basically paid out of his own pocket. We want to keep that act of generosity alive by establishing the memorial fund.

Please convey to your teams the following information if anyone is interested in contributing to the fund:

(Make checks out to)

Greg Stathis / Hockey Time USA Memorial Fund

Mail to:
c/o
GT Assistant Coach
Brian McSparron
620 Whistler Drive
Canton, GA 30115

We will also have a “celebration service” celebrating Greg’s life on March 30th in the Atlanta area. Teams & individuals are encouraged to send in any thoughts or remembrance of Greg that will be shared with the audience during the celebration ceremony. Any message that you would like to be read can be emailed to me at SargeDay@Knology.net

I know that due to the distance that many teams will not be able to make the trip to Atlanta, but would appreciate it if you sent the information regarding the memorial fund to as many teams in your area as possible. If any team (or anyone else) plans to send a member to the celebration service on March 30th, we will schedule your representative a 5-10 minute block of time to share any thoughts you have on Greg, what he has meant to your team, your league, ACHA D-3, etc. Please let me know if anyone will be attending and if that person would like an opportunity to speak. I will send additional detailed information about the service to your team representative.

Greg will be flown to his beloved New York City on Wednesday and buried on Saturday on Staten Island.

Here’s some links that were posted on the Savannah TV station – WTOC - last night:

Video from WTOC

Story from WTOC