Hockey: Ice Flyers, Pensacola hockey community mourns loss of beloved Dan Buccella

Dan Buccella played hockey with a natural fury that quickly changed into a welcoming personality off the ice whenever meeting someone.

“His care for everyone around him is what stood out,” said Pensacola Ice Flyers owner Greg Harris. “No matter who you were, whether a teammate, a rookie, a fan, friends, family, strangers, he was Bucky. He was the same guy every day and had the same love and care for everybody.”

Sadly, these are now memories of Buccella, who died Sunday from an aggressive form of leukemia. He was only 39. He is survived by his wife, Tiffany, and two sons.

During the parts of four seasons he played in Pensacola, Buccella, a Woodbridge, Ontario native, became one of the most beloved players in the 26-year history of professional hockey in this community, which includes the ECHL Ice Pilots franchise and Ice Flyers. His jersey No. 47 hangs from the Bay Center rafters, the first Ice Flyer player so honored with a jersey recognition.

One of Buccella’s greatest moments occurred in 2013 when the Ice Flyers won the first of four Southern Professional Hockey League, President’s Cup championship titles.

Buccella became the first Ice Flyers player to hoist the trophy that night and skate around the ice – the first championship won by a Pensacola franchise -- after being coaxed from retirement that season to play in the final 10 games. It became the last of his 10 seasons with eight different teams in professional hockey.

“You didn’t have to have an association for hockey to make Dan love you and make you feel you were part of the team,” Harris said. “He played with a lot of great leaders and he was able to piece together who he was, and not just as hockey play, but also a great person.”

A celebration of Buccella’s life will occur at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Pensacola Bay Center. The arena doors will open at 2 p.m. with the ceremony beginning an hour later. In lieu of flowers or any other memorial keepsake, the family is asking for donations to a future college fund for both of Buccella’s sons. A website has been established for those donations.

Buccella’s passing has evoked a gut-wrenching sadness within the minor league, professional hockey community.

“The amount of text messages, emails and phone calls I have received has been incredible,” said Harris, who was on a business trip in Texas. “I have cried a lot. At one point, I had to take a break from my meetings and just walk outside and have a private moment. The flash of memories I’ve been experiencing occurs constantly.”

Buccella lived in the same Gulf Breeze neighborhood as Harris. After retiring from hockey and choosing to remain in the Pensacola area, Buccella was working as a salesperson for Sunrise Marine in Mary Esther, near Fort Wallon Beach.

“My heart breaks for Tiffany, Caleb and Lucas to have their husband and dad gone,” Harris said. “Everyone in our Ice Flyers community, their heart is broken.”

Buccella’s first season with the Ice Flyers was in 2009-10 after prior stints with teams in Louisiana, Fayetteville (N.C.), Huntsville, Youngstown and Memphis. In 2010-11, he returned to the Ice Flyers after playing for the Knoxville Ice Bears.

All told, Buccella scored 40 goals and had 48 assists with the Ice Flyers in those four seasons. He was a prior team captain, but when he came back for the final season under coach Gary Graham. Ice Flyers defenseman Tyler Soehner was the team captain.

In a classy move, Soehner deferred to Buccella when it became time for the first player on the team to hoist the championship trophy that night.

“Normally, the captain on a hockey team is the first one, who raises the cup.  Tyler did the picture and everything, but then he stepped aside, called Bucky up and he raised the cup on the ice,” Harris said.

Buccella’s passing happened after he initially went to Birmingham in late summer for Leukemia treatment at the University of Alabama-Birmingham Hospital. He was released and appeared to be doing fine the past month. But a week ago, Buccella became ill again and was rushed back to UAB Hospital where he passed away.

“He was all good, back home here, then everything happened quickly,” Harris said.

As neighborhood residents, Harris and Buccella and his family became close friends. Harris watched the deciding game on June 26 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals at Buccella’s home, as the Colorado Avalanche captured the title against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“He only lives a few blocks from me,” Harris said.  “And I really got to know him a lot more away from the game, just over the years. And seeing what he was like as a family man. He was just a true friend and brother. He had so much life in him.”

Buccella quickly fell in love with the Pensacola area, and Ice Flyers fans loved him, after being so accommodating for autographs, photos and community service outings.

“It was what Dan loved doing,” Harris said. “It became who he was as a man. It went far beyond hockey. He was so healthy, so vibrant, and to have life ripped out this way so fast is very tough to take. Many of the tributes our fans have posted have just brought to tears.

“Bucky was a special player, a special man. This is so tough to understand.”

Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at bvilona@bluewahoos.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola Ice Flyers And fans mourn loss of beloved player Dan Buccella