Wilmington's Joe Pendenza Still Going Strong In 10th Pro Hockey Season

ESTERO, FL — Now in his 10th professional hockey season, Wilmington native Joe Pendenza is still going strong. In fact, he may be going stronger than ever.

Pendenza, 32, is in his fourth season with the Florida Everblades, an ECHL team based near Ft. Myers. The ECHL is considered a mid-level minor league, below the high-minor AHL.

Through 21 games this season for the Everblades, Pendenza is third on the team with 16 points (5 goals, 11 assists).

This is Pendenza's fourth season with the Everblades, and last spring he helped lead the team to the Kelly Cup Playoff title, defeating the Toledo Walleye 4-1 in the finals.

"Throughout the playoffs, everyone bought in, and no one was afraid to say, 'Hey, we're going to win the Kelly Cup,'" Pendenza told Flohockey.com in October. "I think when you have that kind of confidence, it's hard to stop that. We just willed it to win it. There were times we weren't playing good, but we just stuck with it."

The 5-11, 192-pound Pendenza's performance was a major factor in Florida's success. The former UMass Lowell River Hawk had five goals and 11 assists in 20 playoff games. That was after a regular season in which Pendenza recorded career-highs in goals (27), assists (37) and points (64).

However, Pendenza said he takes pride in the fact that his game features more than just goals and assists.

"I try to pride myself in playing a 200-foot game, so even when I'm not scoring goals and making plays, I'm still contributing to the team," Pendenza said. "That's been a big thing my entire pro career — even if you're not scoring, you're still doing something, whether it's being good defensively or being good on the penalty kill. To chip in with some goals and some assists, that obviously helps. It's always nice celebrating some goals."

A former member of the Boston Jr. Bruins, Pendenza played four seasons at UMass Lowell, finishing with 110 points (49 goals, 83 assists). His most productive season was his junior year in 2012-13, when Pendenza had 38 points (15 goals, 23 assists) and was named Hockey East All-Conference Second Team.

Since 2013, Pendenza has played over 500 professional games, several of which were in the AHL. He played with the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals during parts of five seasons and with the league's Cleveland Monsters on two occasions.

Pendenza also played in the ECHL with the Cincinnati Cyclones, Manchester Monarchs and Idaho Steelheads, in addition to the Everblades.

It's been quite a career for a player who at one time seemed like a longshot just to make the professional ranks.

"At the end of the day, I only had one scholarship offer to go to college, so I don't think I thought I'd be playing (so many) professional games after that," Pendenza said in a 2021 interview posted on the Everblades website. "But it's been quite a ride and its humbling that it's (so many games). I'm getting old over here."