The best of both worlds for Welland star after NHL draft
Selected by Colorado, Colby Ambrosio will play hockey and study business at Boston College
The Colorado Avalanche looked no farther than their own backyard when the time came to make forward Colby Ambrosio their fourthround pick at the National Hockey League draft this week.
To say the least, it’s a very large backyard — Kearney, Neb., where the Welland native played in the United States Hockey League with the Tri-City Storm, is 580 kilometres northeast of Denver.
Still, the Avs are the closest NHL team to Ambrosio’s home away from home for the past two years. Next closest? St. Paul, where the Minnesota Wild play their home games, is 900 kilometres northeast as the slapshot flies.
The son of Joe and Sandy Ambrosio of Welland doesn’t know whether the Avalanche actively scouted Tri-City, but he is glad he was on the team’s radar.
“They’re an unbelievable team. I think that was shown throughout the whole year,” he said in an interview from Boston, where he is in his first year studying business at Boston College.
“I know that Joe Sakic is a big, big part of that organization. I called him yesterday (Wednesday) and that was pretty unreal.”
Heading into the seven-round draft, which this year was conducted online due to COVID-19, it was uncertain when the five-foot-nine, 170- pound right- handed shot would be picked, and where he would go.
“I figured just from talking to teams and with my adviser that I would go anywhere from late second to the fourth round,” he said.
Ambrosio wasn’t disappointed he lasted until the fourth round, going to the Avs with the 118th overall pick.
“It doesn’t really matter where you go, it just matters what you do after the draft,” he said. “The work is just starting now. I wasn’t upset. Now, it just gives me more motivation to prove myself to the teams that passed on me.”
Ambrosio remained committed to Boston College despite being taken by the Ottawa 67’s in the fourth round of the Ontario Hockey League draft with the 66th pick. He said taking the college route was important to him.
“I came to play college hockey because I felt it was the highest level of hockey I could play at, and it would help me get to the next level,” Ambrosio said. “But I also came here for education, as well.”
He can play as many as four years at the collegiate level, but whether he does will depend on his development on the ice.
“It’s a bit of a 50-50 balance. Obviously, I want to play hockey. Hockey has been the most important thing in my life forever,” Ambrosio said. “I just want to play hockey, but I also want to have my schooling behind me, as well.”
Turning pro in the Colorado organization before he graduates from Boston College would close the door on his collegiate career, but the prospect of putting his education on hold doesn’t faze Ambrosio.
“I could finish my education after my career. I don’t know how long I’ll be at college,” he said. “It could be two years, it could be three years, it could be four years.
“I’m not really too sure. I have to wait it out and see how I develop.”
In addition to his call from Sakic, Ambrosio was introduced to the Avalanche development staff.
“Next week, we’re going to start going over things that they want me to do. Things they want me to work on and all that kind of stuff,” Ambrosio said.
He expects contact with the club will be ongoing now that he has been drafted by the team.
“They can tell me whenever they feel I am ready to go in. They could say, ‘We think you’re ready, we think you’re at a good point right now,’ ” he said. “So I guess it’s all up to them. But, whenever they think I’m ready, and whenever I feel like I’m ready, I’ll be able to make the jump.”
Ambrosio was among the last to find out he was drafted.
“It was kind of weird how it all played out. I was in a meeting with the coaches and about to go on the ice for practice,” he recalled. “I had to leave a Zoom call with my family.”
When Ambrosio arrived at the rink, some of his teammates were already there watching the draft in the lounge.
“I heard someone yell, ‘Ambro!’ and my phone just started buzzing like crazy. Then, after the meeting, I looked at the phone and saw that Iwas picked by Colorado, and I had calls from them,” he said.
“My family knew before me, the guys in the lounge knew before me just because I was in a meeting, so obviously I couldn’t be on my phone.”
Ambrosio paced the Storm in points in his sophomore season in the USHL with 26 goals and 24 assists in 48 regular-season games. He had 12 goals and 12 assists in 57 games in his rookie year in TriCity.
Before moving to the USHL, the graduate of the Southern Tier Admirals triple-A organization spent two seasons in western New York playing for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres under-16 team.
“It doesn’t really matter where you go, it just matters what you do after the draft. The work is just starting now.” COLBY AMBROSIO COLORADO AVALANCHE DRAFT PICK
Bernd Franke is a St. Catharines-based journalist and the regional sports editor for the Standard, Tribune and Review. Reach him via email: bernd.franke@niagaradailies.com