A former NYPD detective who responded to 9/11 and who later grew to become a beloved hockey coach for disabled gamers took his personal life final week — forsaking a gap within the hearts of his many gamers and family members.
Peter Gianatiempo, identified to many as “Coach Pete,” served 26 years on the power, together with 19 within the Organized Crime Management Bureau died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his dwelling, simply days earlier than he was set to return to teaching in an adaptive hockey league in Connecticut. He was 61.
Daybreak Gianatiempo mentioned her husband liked being a cop, however the intense nature of the job weighed closely on his thoughts after retiring in 2014.
“Pete noticed issues that I couldn’t perceive as a civilian, solely his brothers in blue might,” she instructed the New York Publish. “He retired however he missed the job and thought rather a lot about what he’d seen.”
On Sept. 11, 2001, Daybreak remembers her husband working towards hazard after which battling post-traumatic stress dysfunction (PTSD) for years after.
“I assumed the world was ending and Pete mentioned, ‘I’ve to go to work,’ after which I didn’t see him for days,” Gianatiempo mentioned. “That’s what he wished to do and every part he did was 100% from the guts.”
Gianatiempo grew up in Woodside, Queens, and graduated from Monsignor McClancy Excessive Faculty in 1982, the place he performed soccer. He met Daybreak in 1984, married her in 1992 and had two youngsters: Nicole, now 30, and Peter, 26.
Gianatiempo, who lived in Cortlandt Manor in Westchester, spent his retirement working safety — and coached for the New York Junior Rangers program in New York and Connecticut.
His ardour for teaching started when his children began enjoying sports activities. His son’s work in therapeutic recreation impressed Gianatiempo’s tireless advocacy for adaptive hockey.
“After I obtained into the particular wants area, my dad wished to study extra about it,” Peter Gianatiempo instructed The Publish. “It made him need to coach adaptive hockey.”
In Sept. 2021, the New York Rangers launched a video highlighting Gianatiempo’s work with a younger woman going through anger points and private challenges.
“I discovered after the second week that Daniella had some particular wants, however I didn’t let that take away from instructing her the sport of hockey,” he mentioned.
In late-2024, Gianatiempo started teaching for the Danbury Hat Methods youth groups and the Northern Bravehearts, an adaptive hockey program, in Danbury, Conn. Mother and father referred to as his involvement a godsend.
“Pete all the time mentioned that hockey is for everybody, and he took it upon himself to ship that to folks,” mentioned Dominick Alessandro, whose 17-year-old son, Luke, performs adaptive hockey.
Alessandro mentioned he labored with Gianatiempo this summer season to replace the Bravehearts emblem and plan methods to develop this system.
“There are particular hockey tournaments across the nation, and Pete wished to construct this system to that time the place we might take some children to characterize Danbury,” Alessandro mentioned. “These had been plans we had; I don’t perceive it.”
Information of his demise shook the hockey group.
“Heartbroken to lose an incredible man final night time,” former NHL goaltender Stephen Valiquette posted on X.
“Pete Gianatiempo was greater than a [Rangers] supporter — he was a brother. A retired NYPD detective and 9/11 first responder, he gave endlessly to the sport and his group. Relaxation simple, Pete. You’ll all the time be with us.”
Ron Rogell, a member of the New York Rangers Sled Hockey Group and the so-called “Mayor of Danbury Enviornment,” remembered Gianatiempo’s humorousness and heat – and his cologne.
“If he wasn’t busting your chops, he didn’t such as you,” Rogell mentioned. “Straight away I assumed to myself, ‘We’re going to be good mates.’ And we had been.
“He was very properly stored and wore tons of cologne; a working joke was that you may scent him earlier than you may see him.”
A number of memorials and charity hockey video games are deliberate in his honor.
The Danbury Hat Methods minor skilled crew introduced they’ll host the NYPD Hockey Membership on Nov. 12 within the “Blueline Basic,” honoring Gianatiempo.
On Saturday night time at Danbury Enviornment, The Final Goalie Showdown, a hockey exhibition sport showcasing viral expertise, held a ceremony that includes a second of silence in his reminiscence.
Gianatiempo’s funeral is deliberate for Tuesday in Westchester.
Previous to his demise, Gianatiempo was trying ahead to his daughter’s marriage ceremony in October. In June, he began working safety at a warehouse in Nyack, a job his spouse mentioned he was having fun with.
“He was himself once more — watching cameras, questioning folks,” she mentioned. “It was the closest factor to police work he did after he left the job.”
Alessandro, in the meantime, mentioned he’s now struggling to discover a approach to clarify Pete’s absence to his son, who has Down Syndrome.
“I’m actually going to have to inform him that he moved away,” Alessandro mentioned. “There’s no approach I can inform him Pete’s gone.”
