Ice hockey: Minisink's Nick Abruzzese makes NHL debut with Leafs
It’s been a whirlwind three months on the ice for Slate Hill’s Nick Abruzzese, who made his NHL debut on Saturday for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Since the start of the year, Abruzzese played for the U.S. Olympic Hockey team, led Harvard University to an ECAC playoff championship and NCAA tournament berth and signed with the Maple Leafs, the team that had drafted him in 2019.
Though he had another year of eligibility with the Crimson, Abruzzese signed a two-year entry deal on March 21. His NHL debut on Saturday was a quiet one on Toronto’s fourth line. Wearing uniform No. 26 (rather than his usual No. 16 with Harvard and Team USA) Abruzzese took 15 shifts for a total of 9 minutes, 5 seconds. He did not take any shots on net and had one giveaway. He was on the ice for goals by the Leafs’ Wayne Simmonds and the Flyers’ Ivan Provorov. At Sunday’s practice, he again skated with the fourth line and saw some duty on the second power-play unit – he did excel on Harvard’s power play.
Abruzzese, who turns 23 on June 4, made his presence felt for Team USA, posting a goal, three assists and a plus-5 rating. Abruzzese did an outstanding job setting up his teammates, although he had some hard luck trying to pot some more goals.
Upon his return to Harvard, the Crimson went 6-3 down the stretch. Harvard topped RPI, two games to one, in the ECAC quarterfinals, beat Clarkson 5-3 in the semifinals (where Abruzzese had two goals and two assists) and edged Quinnipiac 3-2 in overtime in the ECAC finals. Harvard rallied late but fell short to Minnesota State, 4-3, in the NCAA opener.
His college numbers read 59 games, 23 goals, 54 assists and plus ratings of eight and 14 in his two seasons. He had three goals and five assists in six postseason games.
The last NHL player to hail from Orange County was New Windsor’s Matt Herr, who played club hockey with Newburgh Free Academy. Herr won two NCAA championships with Michigan (1996, 1998). A Washington Capitals draft choice in 1994, Herr became a three-time AHL all-star (2002-04), played 52 games with the Caps, three with the Florida Panthers and three with the Boston Bruins, the last coming in 2002-03.
kmcmillan@th-record.com
Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Nick Abruzzese NHL debut Toronto Maple Leafs Minisink Harvard
