Former Kings defenceman Carmine Buono is set to continue his hockey career, and return to the NCAA after committing to the University of Alaska-Anchorage for the 2018/19 season.
Buono originally made his debut with the Kings as a 17 year old in the 2014-15 season, and after an excellent rookie campaign, Buono joined UMass-Amherst in the NCAA. After a season and a half in the NCAA, Buono elected to pursue other college opportunities and returned to Powell River to complete his Junior career. Overall, Buono dressed in 121 regular season and 24 playoff games with the Kings.
“This whole process of returning to the NCAA really started by coming back to Powell River and the BCHL”, said Buono on the commitment. “Specific talks with Anchorage started at the end of the season and it wasn’t until last week when everything was finalized.”
The 2017-18 co-defenceman of the year, Buono will get the opporunity to slide directly into the lineup and contribute right away.
“There’s a new coaching staff up there, so I’m excited about getting a chance to play right away”, said Buono. “It was a big part of the decision to go up there. It certainly feels different than when I went to UMass, I know more about how to play in the NCAA, I know the speed, but I’m excited to get back there and can’t wait to get going.”
Buono joins former Kings Alex Jackstadt, Chris Williams and Andrew Pettitt as commits to Anchorage over the last few years.
The Kings would like to congratulate Carmine on his commitment and wish him the best in Anchorage.
