Patrick Gaul named Captain of USA Team White at Three Nations Hockey Festival !

It has been quite a year for Patrick Gaul of the Pittsburgh Hornets. Patrick recently was named to the USA Hockey NDTP U17 team for the upcoming year, a very great accomplishment indeed. Following up on that success, Patrick then accepted a Division 1 scholarship to play ice hockey for Notre Dame University in the year 2008-2009. These two accomplishments alone are staggering ones for any amateur hockey player in the USA to achieve.

But amazingly Patrick has recently earned another honor that the Pittsburgh Hornets are perhaps most proud of, he was named captain of his USA U17 Hockey Team White currently competing in the Three Nations Hockey Tournament in Rochester, New York this week.

The USA has fielded 2 teams of players to compete against national squads from Germany and Switzerland and as of today both USA teams have been undefeated in the tournament to date. Patrick already has 1 goal and 2 assists in 2 games, exhibiting his well known crafty play against some of the worlds best players in this age group. And based upon his equally well known leadership abilities, he was also selected as captain of his team by his teammates as well ! And we believe that being named as a team captain is one of the greatest honors one can achieve in our sport and fills our organization with a great deal of pride when one of players achieves such a great honor .

The Pittsburgh Hornet Travel Hockey Association prides itself on not only developing some of the best amateur ice hockey players in the country, but in also developing young men of character that can serve in the role someday as a team captain. We try hard to develop young men of character, athletes that work as hard on the ice as they do in the classroom, that are consummate team players, that can lead others by example to greater success, that are selfless and are willing to make personal sacrifices for their teammates and team.

It means having respect, character, ethics, integrity, values and morals and conducting yourself in everything you do consistent with those principles. It means doing what is right because it is the right thing to do. These are the principles which guide our Pittsburgh Hornets AAA Ice Hockey program and that we strive to develop in our players everyday.

Our players have served as team captains at most all levels of hockey, including Division 1 teams like Harvard and Ohio State University. And because we believe that all of our young athletes "were born to succeed, not fail " we anticipate seeing many of our athletes achieving the same or greater successes in the future as well.

We will continue to help our young athletes as best we can to develop into leaders and young men of character. And we congratulate Patrick on this great, great achievement which reflects so well on him as a person, as a teammate and as a born leader, and which makes us so very, very proud to be able to call him a Pittsburgh Hornet.