Passing the Puck: The Longo Family’s Championship Story

Cara Furchner

Winning the Flyers Cup is a rare achievement, but winning it as both father and son is even rarer. Fewer than ten father-son duos have achieved this in Flyers Cup history, but among them is one duo centered right in the Garnet Valley community. Mr. Longo, an English teacher at the GVHS, and his son, Kaden Longo, a senior, both earned the title of Flyers Cup Champions during their senior year season of high school ice hockey.

Mr. Longo graduated in 1987 from Malvern Prep High School, the same year he won the Flyers Cup with Malvern’s Ice Hockey Team. The 1987 Flyers Cup Championship game was Malvern’s first time taking this title. Mr. Longo and his team won Malvern’s first title at the eighth-ever Flyers Cup game before there were even separate divisions involved with the Flyers Cup. 

Pictured above, Mr. Longo (far right, number 33) and his fellow Friars after winning Malvern Prep's first Flyers Cup Championship title in 1987.

“It’s grown in the Philadelphia region exponentially,” Mr. Longo stated when referring to the sport of ice hockey itself at the high school level. Compared to the first few years of the Flyers Cup, there are now three separate divisions alongside one female division for ice hockey athletes in the Philadelphia area to compete in.

Mr. Longo’s passion for the game has never left the ice. A few years after he fought his way to a Flyers Cup Championship on the team, he went back and led Malvern’s team to another Flyers Cup title as an assistant coach. He continued to play in leagues until it was time to pass the stick to his son, Kaden.

“It hasn’t really set in,” Kaden said when asked about his recent Flyers Cup and State Championship titles with Garnet Valley’s Ice Hockey Team. “The experience was surreal.”

Mr. Longo shared that Kaden had been athletic from a young age. As a father, he never pressured his son to play hockey, but simply watching him play sparked Kaden’s passion for the sport. Kaden, sometimes coached by his dad, gradually grew into an ice hockey player.

Kaden and his father both mentioned, “Everyone knows everyone in hockey.” They described how much support and recognition they received from the hockey community and the friends they have made through it after Garnet Valley’s State and Flyers Cup titles.

“It was really cool how the community came out,” stated Mr. Longo. “when all of the recognition is typically given to other sports.”

Garnet Valley has won the Flyers Cup before, back in 1998, but this is the first time the team has won the State Championship. The Ice Jags, and ice hockey in general, do not typically receive as much attention as other sports. The Ice Jags struggled during Kaden's freshman year, only winning a few games. The team improved year after year, winning more games every season. Their hard work as individual players, but more importantly as a team, made this season successful.

“It was more than just the high school, it was everyone.” Kaden explained when referring to the support the team received this year.

Kaden’s stepbrother and Mr. Longo’s stepson, Owen Parker, a junior on the Garnet Valley Ice Hockey Team, is ready to carry on the family tradition as Kaden leaves Garnet Valley after his senior season.

“This season was unbelievable,” shared Owen when asked about the Ice Jags’ unremarkable run this year. “I will never experience another season like this one.”

Also starting ice hockey at a young age, about 11 years ago, Owen shares his passion for ice hockey with his stepdad and brother. The family’s shared experience of winning the Flyers Cup—Owen’s win alongside his stepbrother—is one that is sure to be cherished forever.

Kaden Longo (left), Mr. Longo (middle), and Owen Parker (right), posing after Garnet Valley Ice Hockey won the State Championship title this season.

“I have to play,” Kaden responded when asked if he would continue his ice hockey career after high school. He explained how he knew as soon as he stepped off the ice after the State Championship game that he wasn’t done playing.

While Kaden’s Garnet Valley High hockey career may be over, Owen and the other underclassmen on the team are sure to carry the momentum forward. As they look toward next season, this year’s success is bound to take them far.

For Mr. Longo, Kaden, and Owen, this ice hockey season was more than just a championship run—it will forever be a memory that goes back to 1987 when the Longo family won their first Flyers Cup title. Mr. Longo’s love and passion for the game of ice hockey has proven that it can spread through one generation—and likely more to come.

As they celebrate this achievement together, Mr. Longo and Kaden’s story is a reflection of how hockey extends beyond the game itself. It’s not just about big wins and earned titles, but rather the bonds ice hockey is able to create and the legacy it leaves behind.