West coast next stop for Niagara teen
Sabres draft pick continues development in British Columbia after Buffalo OJHL takes a year off
Matteo Costantini’s hockey development didn’t go south when he couldn’t go south because of COVID-19.
Closure of the Canada-u.s. border to restrict the spread of the pandemic left the 2019-20 Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) rookie of the year without a team when the Buffalo Jr. Sabres, the league’s only American team, opted to take a leave of absence for the upcoming season.
“The Jr. Sabres are taking a year off from the OJHL because of COVID. That made me look for more options,” he said.
Western Iowa, where the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League are based, likewise wasn’t a destination for the 18-year-old Canadian citizen. In May, Sioux City acquired Costantini’s playing rights when it drafted him third overall in the league’s entry draft.
“With the border closed, I couldn’t get out there.”
Hockey at the collegiate level also wasn’t an option. While the graduate of Saint Francis Catholic Secondary School in his native St. Catharines has “verbally committed” to University of North Dakota, he is taking a year off before continuing his education at the school in Grand Forks, N.D.
That’s when the son of Dino and Vesna Costantini decided the ongoing goal of improving his game would best be furthered three times away, in the British Columbia Hockey League.
He talked with Pentiction Vees team officials after wrapping up his season in the OJHL and visited central British Columbia with his parents.
“Ever since then, I fell in love with the rink and with Penticton itself,” he said. “I wanted to come back and play here.”
If COVID-19 hadn’t closed the border and shut down sports on both sides of it, would he have returned to Buffalo for a second season in the OJHL?
“It was definitely a possibility, for sure. But I think I wanted to move on and keep moving forward with my hockey career,” he said in an interview from Penticton, B.C., where he is living with a billet family.
“I feel like I would have either been in the same spot I’m right now or maybe in the USHL.”
Costantini, who selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the fifth round of the National Hockey League draft with the 131st pick overall, suggested the BCHL is a “step faster” than the OJHL.
“I was fortunate enough in Buffalo to play with some really good players so making the jump to this level almost felt seamless,” he said. “I was practising against high-end players all the time in Buffalo.
“It’s definitely a step faster. Guys
are a little bigger, a little stronger.”
The 6-foot, 174-pound leftshooting centre started to feel comfortable that he made the right decision to west following the team’s training camp.
Living away from home won’t be a new experience for the graduate of the Niagara North triple-a program. Before moving up to the OJHL, Costantini had to live in western New York and attend a school in the United States when he played with the under-16 team in the Jr. Sabres organization.
That wasn’t the case with the Jr. Sabres OJHL team. During the 2019-20 season, he took turns with defenceman Michael Craig commuting to Buffalo from Niagara.
“We both had Nexus so it was pretty smooth.”
Being three time zones away from his family “sucked a little bit at the start.”
“But with Facetime and phone calls and all that stuff, Zoom calls, you find some time to call your family, call your friends.”
Costantini headed into the NHL Draft ranked 96th among the North American skaters before being taken by what he considers his “hometown team.”
“It was an awesome feeling, especially being kind of a hometown kid who has played there and being 35 minutes away from my house,” he said. “It was a surreal feeling that I am going to remember for the rest of my life.”
Costantini credited his parents for the success he has achieved in his hockey career.
“I can’t help but thank my parents,” he said. “They have been by my side since I was a little guy taking me to practice and always keeping a positive attitude.”
Costantini was the third-last player selected in the 2018 Ontario Hockey League draft. He went to the Hamilton Bulldogs in the 15th round with the 298th pick. Like “most Canadian kids,” he dreamed about playing in The O, figuring that the best route for his development.
That perception started to change during his two seasons playing in Buffalo.
“Both routes are amazing options but for me personally, I feel like the NCAA route was the way for me,” he said. “It definitely gives you more time to develop and grow into your body and mature as a player.”
Neither Buffalo nor North Dakota has given him a list of things to work on, but Costantini has development goals of his own.
“I want to work on everything, never settle,” he said. “You can work on a bunch of stuff.
“Obviously, getting bigger and stronger are two things I am going to focus on this summer.”
Last season Costantini had 36 goals, 32 assists and 68 in 50 games for the Jr. Sabres.