Rubino coming into his own
Nicholas Rubino has more than lived up to expectations this season.
Thorold Blackhawks head coach Scott Barnes figured the 18-year-old Welland native would be a go-to player on offence, and so far Rubino has more than pulled his own weight.
Rubino leads the Hawks with 19 points through 16 games, including three game-winning goals.
“In the summer, I figured he would be one of our leading scorers this year. I figured he would take a jump up from his rookie season,” Barnes said.
Rubino’s production is even more impressive considering he went the first nine games this season without a goal, although, he was still picking up his share of assists.
“He was around a point a game for the first 10 games but he only had one goal,” Barnes said. “He had chance after chance but they just weren’t falling in, then they started to come.”
Rubino finally broke out in a big way last week, collecting two goals and three assists in a win over Fort Erie.
“It started off OK and once I felt like I got going, I started to score,” Rubino said.
Rubino said confidence is playing a big part in his strong start.
“At the beginning of the year, it gets rid of the nervous jitters and I’m a lot more confident feeling like you know the league already,” he said. “It feels like I’m getting more chances and doing what I want more our there and less mistakes and being scared over my first year.”
Rubino, who played with the Niagara North Stars before joining the Hawks last season, collected nine goals and 26 points in 47 games in his rookie campaign.
“He was good for us last year,” Barnes said. “Coming from midget, it’s always a little bit of a jump up. I figured it would be the progression to the next phase. He’s an offensive player who can score and has really good vision so I figured he would be able to put up the points.”
Rubino was approached by Barnes to join the Hawks and couldn’t say yes fast enough.
“I knew Scott a couple of years and he came to me and right away I knew,” Rubino said. “He’s a good coach and good organization so I wanted to come here.”
Rubino has recently been skating on a line with Cam Lightfoot and Riley Sutherland.
“They are three guys who really enjoy playing together,” Barnes said. “They are the same age and the same build, kind of shorter, stocky guys who play with a little bit of grit and feistiness. Any time they are on the ice there could be a goal or a little scrum after the whistle.”
Rubino’s arrival as a legitimate offensive threat has been a big plus for the Blackhawks who have struggled to put the puck in the net consistently the last couple of seasons.
“It’s huge. We’ve got some younger guys who I felt after 20 games would start to put pucks in the net too,” Barnes said. “We looked at our lineup and figured we had four lines that could score and maybe a couple that could (score) a little more than the other ones. It’s really nice.”
Rubino is attending Grade 12B at Notre Dame and would like to play at the collegiate level down south.
“It would be nice to go to a higher level. It’s good now to play junior B and get a couple of years in,” he said. “(I’m) getting my grades up and (just need to) keep working hard and work on my game every day.”
The Hawks (8-6-2) are home to the St. Catharines Falcons (8-5-1) Thursday and at Fort Erie Saturday.
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