TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — It happened so fast that most fans at the Traverse City Prospects tournament missed it.
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Nick Abruzzese collected a pass atop the crease, instantly chopped from backhand to forehand to shelf, leaving St. Louis Blues goalie Will Cranley still poised for the backhand as Abruzzese celebrated. There is no jumbotron in Traverse City, so the majority of potential witnesses were left in the dark. The Harvard product joined his mates in a conga line at the Toronto bench, and the moment passed.
Professional hockey is the latest stop in Abruzzese’s hockey journey that has gone from 0-100 MPH in less than a year. “Whirlwind is a pretty good way to describe it,” said the 5-foot-10 Abruzzese, who in street clothes looks much more like a Harvard undergrad than an NHL player. One year ago he was facing a college season with trepidation, having missed the entire 2020-21 campaign as the Crimson endured the Ivy League COVID-19 shutdown.
In the months that followed, his Harvard teammates elected Abruzzese captain, he represented his country at the Olympics, and along with linemates Sean Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass.) and Matt Coronato, led the Crimson to the Ivy League and ECAC tournament championships. Harvard then came within a goal of upsetting powerhouse Minnesota State in the NCAA tournament. Days later, Abruzzese signed a pro contract with the Maple Leafs, and scored his first NHL goal against the Boston Bruins on the last game of the regular season.
Whirlwind, indeed.
Abruzzese is a man on a mission, a rookie on the cusp of claiming a roster spot in the world’s best league through sheer will. “He’s very involved in his own development,” said Ted Donato (Boston, Mass.), his coach for three years at Harvard. “The way he goes about trying to improve, watching games, watching shifts, trying to manipulate time and space. It’s great to see first-hand, a guy fully invested.”
It’s almost impossible to imagine such a player, in full sprint towards hockey’s highest level, being forced to slam on the brakes for an entire season in 2020-21, just months after his 21st birthday.
“That was a tough, tough year,” Abruzzese said during some rare down time in Traverse City. “Watching all the other college teams play, That could have been one of our best teams, it was tough to swallow.”
Mix in the siren song coming from north of the border as the Maple Leafs were urging the Harvard sophomore to sign a pro contract and get back on the ice.
“There was a little bit of back and forth, trying to figure out what the best decision was,” Abruzzese said, “because taking a year off of hockey is not ideal for anyone.”
As every fan of Crimson hockey knows, Abruzzese stayed in Cambridge, taking care of other business such as getting a year closer to his degree and getting surgery on a nagging hip injury. He spent his holidays practicing drills and coaching with his old midget team in New Jersey. His gut told him that there was unfinished business playing at the college level.
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“He was never in a rush to get to some place before he could get fully established where he was,” Donato said. “Very loyal, a great character kid. That’s a credit to him and his family.”
Another part of the equation was getting more chances to play college hockey in the Hub.
“Boston is the college hockey town of the world, the four Beanpot schools,” Abruzzese said. “The only time in my house growing up (in State Hill, N.Y.) we’d think about getting NESN was during February to watch (the Beanpot). Obviously a rich history and tradition. It’s cool to play teams that are right down the road. You go to restaurants and bars around Boston and you’re seeing guys from different schools. It’s a lot of fun to play against those guys and compete against them.”
Said Donato, “Nick is super competitive. Enjoys the big games, enjoys the pressure, a guy who elevates his game when it matters most. So to be able to play at Harvard, in Boston, to be able to win an Ivy League championship, an ECAC championship as captain of Harvard, were all special accomplishments for him.”
As much as Abruzzese yearned to get into another Beanpot tournament last season, an even bigger opportunity presented itself in early 2022 — a chance to represent his country at the Beijing Olympics.
“When we got word that it was a possibility I could go, he [Donato] said he was going to support any decision I made,”Abruzzese said. “At the end of the day he said, ‘It’s the Olympics, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.’”
Donato played in the 1992 Games and allowed his son Ryan to interrupt the 2017-18 Harvard season to play in the Olympics as well.
“Maybe I’m impacted by the fact that I played for (ex-Harvard coach) Bill Cleary (Cambridge, Mass.), a great Olympian and a great supporter of international hockey,”Donato said.
So the Harvard coach made it easy for his captain to take the ultimate hockey sabbatical last year. “I was excited for him to get that opportunity on the world stage.”
Although disappointed to return home without a medal, Abruzzese will never forget the goal he scored in the medal round for Team USA. “I can’t put into words how special that was,” Abruzzese said. “Scoring that goal, representing your country, especially in an elimination game, was a high that I’ll hopefully continue to chase.”
After Abruzzese and Farrell returned home from China, Donato finally had all his chess pieces in play for the Crimson’s postseason push. After knocking off pesky RPI in the ECAC quarterfinals at the Bright-Landry Center, Harvard bused north to Lake Placid for the league championships and the opportunity to extend its season. Their semifinal game against nationally ranked Clarkson was Abruzzese’s finest hour a come-from-behind upset. The captain was at his best with his season on the line, generating two goals and four points in a tour-de-force.
“Nick was tremendous,” Donato said, “Their line was sensational, just took the game over.” Abruzzese’s performance woke up the echoes of former Crimson legends Cleary and Donato himself. The coach compared his captain to another Harvard great.
“He reminds me a bit of Pete Ciavaglia,” Donato said, “both super competitive, both brimming with incredible hockey IQ. Pete was a huge part of our NCAA Championship team in 1989.”
After dispatching Quinnipiac in overtime to claim the 2022 Whitelaw Cup, the Crimson got a shot in the NCAA tournament for the first time since the pandemic. They were the youngest team in the tournament, slotted to face the oldest: top-seeded Minnesota State. It was a game for the ages. The Mavericks nearly ran Harvard out of MVP Arena in Albany, racing out to a 3-0 lead. But after denying Minnesota State on a penalty shot, Harvard stormed back, riddling MSU’s Hobey Baker-winning goalie Dryden McKay with three goals, before falling 4-3.
“The second half of the game, we were in control,” Abruzzese said, just five months removed from the game. “We had our looks, we had our chances . . .” The former captain trails off, temporarily trapped in the realm of “woulda/shoulda/coulda,” recalling his final NCAA game with a trace of melancholy. After a pause, he quickly transitioned from looking back to thinking forward, knowing that the Crimson’s dramatic postseason run should have winning ripples throughout the program.
“That’s going to be a really good learning experience for everyone,” Abruzzese said, now a self-proclaimed Harvard hockey fan. “Having to win the ECAC, the whole playoff run, the week leading up to the [NCAA tournament] game, it’s a grander experience if you will. It’s really important that they went through that. They’re basically returning the same team, they’re going to be hungry. I’ve got really high expectations, I’m excited to watch. I think the sky’s the limit moving forward.”
The same could be said for Abruzzese.
The goal of all goals
Peruse through the Elite Prospects internet profile of Nick Abruzzese, and a trio of goals stand out. He scored as a 10-year-old at the unofficial Pee-Wee World Championship in Quebec; he got one at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games; and he had a tally for the Toronto Maple Leafs this past spring.
One goal in each of these zenith moments. The question posed to Abruzzese was which of those monumental tallies did he cherish the most? He needed time for careful deliberation.
“Hmmm . . .” he murmured, stroking his chin in deep thought. “Quebec and the Olympics were cool because they were playoff games, elimination games. But scoring your first goal in the NHL, any goal in the NHL, I don’t know how many times I’ve been in my basement and practiced that, so that was special.”
Just when it appeared that the Toronto prospect was stymied, Abruzzese made his decision.
“If I had to pick one, I’d have to say the Olympic goal,” he said. “All three were special for different reasons, but being able to represent your country at the highest stage, especially in an elimination game, scoring that goal was a high I will, hopefully, continue to chase.”
