Gaetano Orlando

Gaetano "Gates" Orlando (born November 13, 1962) is a Canadian-born Italian former ice hockey centre. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Buffalo Sabres between 1984 and 1987. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1984 to 1999, was mainly spent in the Italian Serie A and Swiss Nationalliga A. Internationally Orlando played for the Italian national team at several World Championships and at the 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympics. He later coached in the minor leagues for a few years, and also worked as a scout for the New Jersey Devils of the NHL. His father's ancestry hails from Agnone, Isernia, Molise, Italy.

International play By virtue of his Italian ancestry and playing in Italy, Orlando acquired Italian citizenship and was eligible for the Italian national ice hockey team.

He participated in the following tournaments:

8 A-World Championships: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 2 B-World Championships: 1990, 1991 2 Olympic Games: 1994 in Lillehammer and 1998 in Nagano

Orlando wore jersey number 17 in the national team. Artificial heart and Heart Transplant A sarcoidosis patient, in March 2011, Orlando was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. He was participating in a clinical study of Life Vest, a wearable defibrillator. On May 22, the defibrillator saved his life after his heart stopped for 40 seconds. Orlando was the first participant in the study to have required the vest to deliver a shock.

On April 4, 2012, Orlando received an artificial heart to extend his life while he waits for a donated biological heart. The operation, performed at the University of Rochester Medical Center, was the first such operation in Upstate New York.

A donor heart became available February 4, 2013 so the transplant teams were mobilized for surgery that day at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He was able to return home 25 days later.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1979–80 Montréal Juniors QMJHL 70 28 44 72 50 9 6 5 11 8 1980–81 Providence College ECAC 31 24 32 56 45 — — — — — 1981–82 Providence College ECAC 28 18 18 36 31 — — — — — 1982–83 Providence College ECAC 40 30 39 69 32 — — — — — 1983–84 Providence College ECAC 34 23 30 53 52 — — — — — 1983–84 Rochester Americans AHL 11 8 7 15 2 18 4 10 14 6 1984–85 Buffalo Sabres NHL 11 3 6 9 6 5 0 4 4 14 1984–85 Rochester Americans AHL 49 26 30 56 62 2 0 1 1 6 1985–86 Buffalo Sabres NHL 60 13 12 25 29 — — — — — 1985–86 Rochester Americans AHL 3 4 0 4 10 — — — — — 1986–87 Buffalo Sabres NHL 27 2 8 10 16 — — — — — 1986–87 Rochester Americans AHL 44 22 42 64 42 18 9 13 22 14 1987–88 HC Merano ITA 36 49 44 93 66 10 10 7 17 23 1987–88 Rochester Americans AHL 13 4 13 17 18 7 2 6 8 6 1988–89 HC Bolzano ITA 34 40 39 79 66 10 17 6 23 0 1989–90 HC Bolzano ITA 36 64 62 126 18 6 8 10 18 6 1990–91 HC Bolzano ITA 27 39 33 72 29 10 8 15 23 12 1991–92 HC Devils Milano ITA 18 21 22 43 12 11 11 17 28 42 1991–92 HC Devils Milano ALP 11 8 7 15 2 — — — — — 1992–93 HC Devils Milano ITA 16 9 18 27 14 11 5 9 14 23 1992–93 HC Devils Milano ALP 25 19 27 46 46 — — — — — 1993–94 HC Devils Milano ITA 20 16 44 60 10 8 8 10 18 27 1993–94 HC Devils Milano AL 30 16 31 47 29 — — — — — 1994–95 SC Bern NDA 36 24 31 55 58 6 3 7 10 8 1995–96 SC Bern NDA 34 15 26 41 62 11 10 8 18 45 1996–97 SC Bern NDA 46 26 56 82 34 13 7 10 17 12 1997–98 SC Bern NDA 38 16 32 48 73 7 6 3 9 18 1997–98 SC Langnau SWI-2 — — — — — 4 1 4 5 8 1997–98 SG Cortina ITA — — — — — 2 3 0 3 4 1998–99 HC Lugano NDA 27 12 20 32 34 11 6 5 11 10 2003–04 Albany River Rats AHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — ITA totals 187 238 262 500 215 68 70 74 144 137 NHL totals 98 18 26 44 51 5 0 4 4 14

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1990 Italy WC B 7 9 4 13 6 1991 Italy WC B 7 8 4 12 2 1992 Italy WC 5 0 3 3 4 1993 Italy WC 6 1 0 1 2 1994 Italy OLY 7 3 6 9 4 1994 Italy WC 6 3 4 7 6 1995 Italy WC 6 1 2 3 12 1996 Italy WC 6 2 5 7 6 1997 Italy WC 8 5 4 9 14 1998 Italy OLY 4 1 2 3 4 1998 Italy WC 6 3 2 5 2 1999 Italy WC 3 0 1 1 4 Senior totals 71 36 37 73 66

Coaching career After retiring from pro ice hockey by the end of 1998–99 with HC Lugano, Orlando become a coach. At the World Championships he served as an assistant coach with the Italian national team while still being a player.

Season Team League Type 1999 – 00 Rochester Junior A Americans NAHL Head Coach 2000 – 01 Adirondack IceHawks UHL Head Coach 2001 – 02 Adirondack IceHawks UHL Head Coach 2002 – 03 Albany River Rats AHL Assistant Coach 2003 – 04 Albany River Rats AHL Assistant Coach

Awards and honors Award Year All-ECAC Hockey First Team 1983–84 AHCA East Second-Team All-American 1983–84

1990 - Serie A Champion with HC Bolzano 1992 - Serie A Champion with Milano Devils 1993 - Serie A Champion with Milano Devils 1994 - Serie A Champion with AC Milan Hockey 1997 - NLA Champion with SC Bern 1999 - NLA Champion with HC Lugano