As many as six players with the Figliomeni last name are hoping for another trip to the Lakehead Junior Hockey League (LJHL) final.
President Cosimo Filane Figliomeni oversees son Mario Filane (Head Coach) as well as his five grandsons; forwards Girolamo, Cosimo and Cosimo Julian (CJ) along with defencemen Nick and Raoul.
A younger member of the family, Giorgio Figliomeni, serves as an Affiliate Player (AP). He normally skates with the Northern Selects ‘AA’ team and has played in one game this season.
The oldest skater CJ, who is 21 years of age, is proud of the start that the team has been able to manufacture, adding “I have played [for the] Falcons my whole life, and have loved every second of it. It has been amazing also getting [the opportunity] to play with my brothers and cousins and coached by my uncles. Playing with six of them is an unreal feeling.”
CJ and Nick’s father is Dom Filane, who was a former Olympic boxer. Dom picked up a pair of bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games and won the Canadian Boxing Championship ten times.
Before lacing on the gloves, Dom played hockey and CJ credits him for getting involved in the game.
Two other members of the family do skate with the Falcons when they are able to around their school schedules: Cosimo is enroled at Laurentian University in Sudbury while Raoul is studying in London.
“My grandfather created the [Falcons] franchise a long way back, so we’ve been involved [with it] since minor hockey,” noted 19-year-old Girolamo Figliomeni. “We’ve all been in the franchise for such a long time, but rarely [have we had the chance] to all be on the same roster. So, when it happens it’s definitely a unique experience, to say the least.”
The team was born in 2011 and began playing in the old Thunder Bay Junior B Hockey League (TBJBHL) before the franchise moved over to the LJHL for the 2017/2018 season.
The falcons only won eight total regular season games until the COVID-19 Pandemic hit the world. The franchise had a winning season in 2021-2022 (9-7-1) and then won eighteen of twenty-three regular season games last season and made the league final before losing to the Thunder Bay Northern Hawks.
“The fan support for the Falcons is very close, almost family-like,” remarked 19-year-old Nick Figliomeni. “Because Schreiber is such a small town, the fans can come together to support their team when we play at home.”
CJ agrees that the support of the community is outstanding, and gives the team a boost whenever they play on home ice.
CJ is playing his last year of junior hockey, and has hinted that coaching might be in his future.
Girolamo can play junior hockey for two more years, and is working towards a Computer Science Degree at Lakehead University.
Nick can also play for another two years after this one, and is also attending Lakehead University in the Kinesiology program.
