January 27, 1983
You’re 8 years old.
You’re sitting at a table in a fancy restaurant.
You and your old man.
You and Dad and Jean Ratelle, Vic Hadfield, and Rod Gilbert. Even at that age, you know that Ratelle, Hadfield, and Gilbert are New York Rangers, three of the best ice hockey players in the world. And there they are, patting you on the head and asking you how you’re doing in school. With an experience like that, what would you grow up wanting to be? A Maytag repairman?
Joe Moderski made up his mind then and there, he’d be a hockey player. His father wasn’t about to talk him out of it, either. As a former sports promoter and advisor to NHL players, he knew they weren’t exactly going hungry.
But perhaps he forgot to pass on this bit of advice: The more goals you score, the more money you make. Today, Joe Moderski is a defenseman for Episcopal Academy. A very defensive defenseman. “He didn’t score a goal until our 13th game,” coach Win Shafer said, “but he’s just about the best defenseman in the league. “Two weeks ago, he came back from Germany with an all-star team, got in all jet-lagged, practiced, and played for us the next night. He was totally exhausted. We used only three defensemen, and he never complained.”On Jan. 17, Moderski played his usual fire-wall defense, scored the first goal, and assisted on the second as Episcopal edged Bonner, 2- 1. A day later, he picked up a goal and two assists in a 5-3 win over Chestnut Hill.
A day after that, he starred on defense as the Eastern League all-stars held the stronger Suburban League to a 3-3 tie.
That performance iced The Inquirer’s City Athlete of the Week award.
“I started out as a winger,” said Moderski, a 5-foot, 11-inch senior. “I wanted to be like Vic Hadfield. “Then, as I got more into hockey, I liked keeping the puck out of the net more than putting it in. I got stuck with defensemen who wanted to skate it up, and I found myself covering up for them.” As a goal scorer, Joe Moderski is no Vic Hadfield. But as a defenseman, he’s the real McCoy.
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