Tony played one year of high school hockey for the Archbishop Ryan Raiders in the Lower Bucks County Scholastic Hockey League, “LBCSHL.” Voce was a dynamic forward with incredible talent. Any time he played he almost always scored multiple points per game. The kid could skate, shoot, control, and pass, and he possessed ridiculous on-ice intelligence. His only problem was his height. He was playing in the wrong era for NHL scouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the 1995-1996 season at Archbishop Ryan, Tony transferred to Lawrence Academy where he not only excelled with his education, he was a three sport scholar. An athlete of such enormous talent. Of all his outstanding accomplishments, one statistic speaks volumes about his overall athletic ability: In both his junior and senior years, Voce led the Independent School League, “ISL” in scoring in both football and hockey. In his senior year he tallied 59 points (26 goals, 33 assists), and finished with a career total of 206 points (108 goals, 98 assists). Voce passed both Steve Heinze and David Jensen to become Lawrence Academy’s career scoring leader. In football, he was the league MVP and the school’s all-time leading scorer and rusher. He was even a star on the baseball diamond, as he hit .400 in his last season for the Spartans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony had aspired to complete his education at Boston College, when he was a student at Lawrence, he made several trips to the campus to tour. In 2000 Tony’s dream came true, after graduating from Lawrence Academy he began his tenure at Boston College, officially an Eagle. In Tony’s freshman year he scored 12g 13a 25pts, and was seventh in the league in overall scoring. He scored the winning goal in the Hockey East Tournament final, which gave the the Eagles first seeding in the NCAA championship tournament. Boston College won the National Title that season. Tony was rookie of the week twice in his first year campaign and an All-Star. In his sophomore season he lead the team in scoring and again was selected an All-Star. Tony was a scoring machine, NHL scouts touted his ability but that issue with his height always stood in the way. As a senior, he finished second in the nation in goals in the NCAA, and for the second time (also as a sophomore) was awarded the Norman F. Bailey Award as team MVP. In addition, he was named to the All-Hockey East First Team and was an AHCA First Team All-American.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teammate Brian Gionta who was one inch smaller and nearly mirrored Voce’s statistics was drafted by the New Jersey Devils, and while the Devils took a chance on a small player, there were no other takers in the NHL who were willing take a chance on Tony. He wasn’t drafted but the Philadelphia Flyers signed him as a free agent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n