Passero remembered for his passion
Rob Hubbert’s friendship with Tony Passero grew out of a disagreement on the bench during a junior B game.
Hubbert’s Thorold Blackhawks were having their way with Passero’s Fort Erie Meteors and Passero finally snapped.
“Tony and I had a great rivalry. I remember him throwing a water bottle at me when I was in Thorold,” Hubbert smiled. “He threw it like a hand grenade from one bench to the other. The lid comes off and the water went everywhere.
“That’s where our friendship started.”
Hubbert called Passero the next day and the two quickly became buddies.
“Tony had a direct way of telling you if he didn’t like you or if you were doing something he didn’t like,” Hubbert added.
Passero, owner and director of hockey operations for the Meteors, died Saturday morning at Hamilton General Hospital, where he was being treated after suffering a massive heart attack in late March.
For more than 40 years, Passero had served the Meteors in some capacity, including coach and general manager.
“I can honestly say he is one of the closest owners I have ever been to,” Hubbert said. “He’s one of a kind.
“He loved his team and loved his players. He was sometimes misunderstood. I’m going to miss him. I talked to him every day for five years, even after I coached.”
Niagara Falls Canucks public address announcer Bill Mitchell played with Passero on the Meteors in 1974 and 1975.
“People loved Tony for his love of hockey,” Mitchell said. “He had his opinion and he loved the game and he would tell you whether it was the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do.
“When I came here, I always made a point of going to ask him how he was doing.”
Former St. Catharines Falcons president Joe MacNeil also has fond memories of Passero.
“I’m sad to see him go,” MacNeil said. “He was a guy who really cared about the league, he really cared about the kids. In my mind, he was a great owner who was never afraid to say what was on his mind.
“He was absolutely old school. He’s the guy who would sit in the corner of the arena and cheer every play his kids made on the ice.”
Before becoming the owner of the Fort Erie franchise in 1983, Passero played five seasons with the team before turning pro in 1978-80 in the Eastern Hockey League with the Erie Blades. He also played professionally in Belgium and Italy before returning to Fort Erie and becoming an assistant coach with the Meteors.
“Anyone who knew Tony knew he was very passionate about hockey, his team and his players. And he was not afraid to voice his opinion,” Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League convenor Paul Quaranta said in a release issued by the Ontario Hockey Association.
“All our prayers and thoughts from our hockey community go out to Tony’s family and the Fort Erie Meteors during this difficult time.”
Passero leaves behind his wife of 28 years, Cheryl, children, Meaghan, Nikolas and Anthony, as well as three granddaughters, Delaney, Reaghan, and Myley, his mother, Maria, and brothers, Sam and Gino.
The family will receive friends on Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Benner Funeral Services. Funeral services will be held at the Fort Erie Leisureplex on Thursday morning at 11 a.m. Interment to follow in McAffee Cemetery.
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