MAVERICKS CAPTAIN ROCCO CARZO ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

INDEPENDENCE, Missouri – Kansas City Mavericks Captain Rocco Carzo announced his retirement from professional hockey in a statement Monday. Carzo ends his professional career with 407 ECHL games played and 292 career points on 112 goals and 180 assists. Carzo is second all-time in games played for the Mavericks with 275, third all-time in points with 201, third all-time in goals scored with 76 and third all-time in assists with 125.

“Thank you to Lamar Hunt Jr., Brent Thiessen, and the Kansas City Mavericks for taking a chance on me 5 years ago and giving me every resource and opportunity to succeed as a hockey player,” Carzo said in a statement Monday, “I was very blessed to have been able to play for such a first class organization, and will forever be grateful for the chance to be a Maverick.”

Carzo, a native of Media, Pennsylvania, was the Mavericks Captain for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.

“Rocco is a first class individual on and off the ice and embodies what it means to be a Maverick,” Mavericks President and General Manager Brent Thiessen said, “We are honored that he wore the orange and black and did so always wanting the best for this team. He has meant a tremendous amount to our organization and will be remembered by our fans for a very long time. We wish him nothing but the very best in retirement and his future endeavors.”

Full statement from Rocco Carzo:

Five years ago, after finishing my season with the Ontario Reign and learning that they would be moving to the AHL, I was uncertain as to what was next in my life, or if I would even continue playing hockey. Shortly thereafter, I was told that my rights were being picked up by a team called the “Missouri Mavericks” for the following season, and that’s where I would be playing. Barely even knowing where Missouri was, I was unsure where my career was going or what my future would look like, but I was looking forward to the new adventure. I had no way of imagining what was ahead of me. Fast forward 5 years, 275 games, 179 wins, and a few less teeth later, I am truly honored to be retiring from professional hockey as a Kansas City Maverick! This season didn’t go the way any of us would have hoped, and certainly did not end the way anyone expected, but I am happy I got to end my career the way I did, as a Maverick.

Thank you to Lamar Hunt Jr., Brent Thiessen, and the Kansas City Mavericks for taking a chance on me 5 years ago and giving me every resource and opportunity to succeed as a hockey player. I was very blessed to have been able to play for such a first class organization, and will forever be grateful for the chance to be a Maverick.

To all my coaches, Coach Matvichuk, Coach Hood, and Coach Schultz, thank you for investing yourselves in developing each and every one of us. To past and present staff members, Andrew Dvorak, Mike Piatek, Scott Eastman, and Mike Kempkes, thank you for the daily hard work making sure we were always ready to perform our best. To Bob Rennison, Adam Twenter, Joe Rozycki, Ryan Gibson, and Bill Althaus, thank you for the outstanding job you always do covering the Mavericks. To all the staff upstairs, who are constantly working hard behind the scenes that make our jobs on the ice easier, thank you. Thank you all for your time and hard work, that often goes unnoticed and under appreciated.

Thank you to Nick Potter for going above and beyond your job description and making sure this old man stayed healthy.

To Coach John Scott Dickson, I owe a lot to you. Thank you for helping me grow not only as a player, but also as a person. You were a great example of what it means to “be a Mav”, and I was honored to have been able to play for you and call you my coach.

Thank you to all my Maverick teammates over the years. I was very fortunate to be able to play with some amazing players in Kansas City, but was even more fortunate to have found many lifelong friends. I thank you all for your hard work and effort each season. It was an honor going to battle with you guys night in and night out.

Thank you to the Kansas City community for embracing this east coast Philly boy and always making me feel at home. You have truly become my 2nd home, and I am thankful for all the opportunities that have been given to me to become a part of this

community, especially the youth hockey community. (And thank you for introducing me to the girl of my dreams and my future wife, Megan)

Thank you to all the sponsors, booster club members, and Adopt-A-Mav families who embraced each of us in that locker room and made the experience of playing for the Mavericks a memorable one. I have met some amazing people who I can now proudly call life long friends.

Thank you to the Orange Army, for being the absolute best fan base in all of the ECHL! Through all the ups and downs of the hockey seasons, you never wavered and always showed up, supporting us Mavs unconditionally. I gave you my absolute all each and every night, and I thank each of you for giving me your all. And thank you for making my father and family feel like absolute celebrities every time they came to town. Those are memories we will cherish forever and will never forget! Sorry Dad, your time in the limelight is over….

It was truly a blessing and an honor getting to don that Maverick jersey for the past 5 seasons, and being able to play in front of such an amazing and passionate fan base. Things weren’t always the best, with some good seasons and some not so good, but I walk away proud, knowing I gave all I had to this organization, the Orange Army and to this city, leaving it all out there on the ice. For the memories you’ve given me, the people you’ve brought me, and all the experiences you shared with me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you for everything, Kansas City.

#12

For more information, visit kcmavericks.com.