Whatever happened to Rick Varone?
Rick Varone was a center who originally hailed from Woodbridge, Ontario. Small for his position, he stood at a reported 5'9" but weighed an impressive 195 pounds. Born February 23, 1983, Varone began playing hockey at a young age.
By 1999 Varone was ready to play juniors and was signed by the Vaughan Vipers of the OPJHL. The next couple of seasons saw him playing for the Bramalea Blues. He was signed to a two-year deal after that to play for the Georgetown Raiders but was traded late in the second season to the Newmarket Hurricanes.
But it was with Newmarket that he drew the attention of both professional and college scouts. Professional scouts felt that - although he was talented - he was too raw for the professional game and he went undrafted out of Newmarket. College scouts were leery about his height, a reported 5'9" in skates and there was some doubt about whether he was that tall. But head coach Ed Gosek liked what he saw and wooed Varone to committ to Oswego. Varone thought that he could still play professionally and turned Gosek down, opting to play a year in a semi-pro league. When that did not lead to a contract he reached out to Gosek once again, and the Lakers Coach told him that there was still a spot open for him on the team.
He came to Oswego in Fall '05 and settled in on the team, tallying 15 points in his freshman year. He followed that up with six points his sophomore year.
He was expelled following a disciplinary hearing after the end of the 2007 playoff campaign (a year in which the Lalers won the Frozen Four) and he left college for good, with only two years completed and no degree to speak of. He returned to Ontario and joined a semi-pro league the next season. But his two years in college served him well, as he once again drew the attention of professional scouts and was signed to a contract by the independent Fort Wayne Komets of the IHL.
He scored an impressive 55 points in his first year as the center for the Komets. He returned to Fort Wayne the next season, but was released after scoring 14 points in 23 games. He was picked up late in the season by the Bloomington PrairieThunder and managed to tally another 20 points with them. He returned to the PraireThunder, now of the CHL, the next season but was released after tallying two points in one game. He opted to retire and return to semi-pro hockey in Canada where he works construction.
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