Cirella joined the
Oshawa Generals of the
Ontario Hockey League (OHL) at the age of 17 and served as team captain as the Generals won the
J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL champions in
1983. He was selected fifth overall in the
1981 NHL entry draft by the
Colorado Rockies. He was traded along with
Claude Loiselle from the
New Jersey Devils to the
Quebec Nordiques for
Walt Poddubny on June 17, 1989. Cirella played for the Rockies, Devils, Nordiques,
New York Rangers,
Florida Panthers and
Ottawa Senators during an NHL career that lasted 14 seasons. He scored the first goal, and also registered an assist on the game-winning goal in the
36th National Hockey League All-Star Game, played in his home arena in
East Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1984. He was the last former Colorado Rockies player in the NHL at the time of his final game. He retired in 1997 after playing one year in
Germany with the
Kölner Haie of the
Deutsche Eishockey Liga. ==Career statistics==