At this point in the season, Ohio players are plenty used to wearing the Bobcats’ green and white across their chests. But off the ice, they also band together to root for a team that dons a different sweater: the Red, White and Blue.
Although none of Ohio’s icers have suited up on the Olympic stage — an opportunity generally reserved for North American professional players — they have plenty of experience donning a variety of sweaters.
Like most of Ohio’s varsity student athletes, the club-level Bobcats are brought together from a wide range of amateur backgrounds, but youth hockey differs from other sports in the sense that players often live away from home to play for a smattering of far-flung “junior” teams before suiting up for their college teams. Almost all of the players on Ohio’s roster played junior hockey at one point or another.
Before coming to Ohio, junior forward Nathan De La Torre played for Shady Side Academy in his hometown of Pittsburgh, a city rich in sports culture. He then went on to play for the Bridgewater Bandits, a youth organization based in Massachusetts.
“I always knew I wanted to play junior hockey after leaving prep school, which was another awesome hockey experience that helped me grow as a player,” De La Torre said. “Playing in Boston for a year was nothing but good for me in my development before coming here to OU. … I played against a lot of good players and some that even went on to be drafted. So I think my junior hockey experience was nothing but a positive one.”
After playing a few years of junior hockey for the Orangeville Flyers of the Ontario Junior Hockey League, junior defenseman Scott Fasano ended up playing NCAA hockey for the State University of New York at Brockport, where he took the ice with current teammate Logan Pfeffer, a forward who is now a sophomore.
He’s quick to take a few friendly jabs at Pfeffer, who transferred to Ohio after recommendations from Fasano’s mother and Bobcats senior defenseman Paul Sergi, who was Fasano’s high school teammate.
“It’s been great to play with (Pfeffer) here at OU,” Fasano said. “We live together away from the rink so I get sick of him sometimes, but it was nice to know someone else coming to OU when I made my decision to come here.”
Similarly to Fasano, Ohio freshman forward Joe Breslin got a taste of intense competition north of the border.
A Centerville native, Breslin played junior hockey for the Kanata Stallions of the Central Canada Hockey League, a team based smack dab in the heart of Ontario hockey country. In his two seasons there, he said he recorded 60 career points (32 goals, 28 assists).
“Playing in Canada was a great experience,” Breslin said. “The competition was great. There were a lot of guys in that league that went to big Division I schools and major juniors. … They live for hockey up there, so I figured it was a good fit for me.”
But just like Olympic players, Breslin and his teammates were brought together to play on one stage or, in this case, sheet of ice.
“This is definitely one of the closest teams I’ve ever played on,” Fasano said. “The boys all love each other and we always have a great time. Tensions get heated in practice, but that’s because everyone is competitive and never wants to lose, which I think is one of our best assets as a team.
“We have a special group of guys here, and it’s going to be a fun end to the season coming up.”
@kelsey_surmacz4
ks363012@ohiou.edu
This article originally appeared in print under the headline, "Players look back on their days before becoming Bobcats"
