Awards galore for Costantini
Matteo Costantini’s timing was perfect.
The 17-year-old St. Catharines native put together a fabulous season with the Buffalo Junior Sabres in his draft year leading the team in scoring while being named Ontario Junior Hockey League rookie of the year and also taking home the Top Prospect Award as well as earning a spot on the second all-star team.
“It was a great experience the last two years in Buffalo,” said Costantini, who was drafted in the 15th round of the Ontario Hockey League draft by Hamilton in 2018. “This year especially, I had such a good relationship with the coaching staff. They put a really good system in place and as the team started to get better, that’s when you started to see the individual success as well.
“It was a really good year.”
Costantini, a six-foot, 174-pound centre, collected 36 goals and 68 points in 50 games. He joined the Jr. Sabres the previous season in order to keep his options open for an NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) scholarship.
“I wanted to explore the NCAA route. Doors started opening up a little and it opened my eyes to the NCAA route,” he said. “I wanted to go back to Buffalo (this year) and give it another shot and I think that was a good decision.”
Costantini was rewarded for his strong campaign when he was ranked the 96th North American skater by National Hockey League Central Scouting for the 2020 NHL draft.
“I was just trying to focus on winning games with the team and trying to be a good teammate,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking about it too much but obviously the thought it always there because it’s your draft year, but I wasn’t really something I thought about too heavily.
“It’s definitely something cool to see and it shows your hard work is getting noticed. At the end the day, it doesn’t mean anything. It’s kind of like a mock draft.”
Costantini isn’t sure what his next move will be. He was selected in the first round (third overall) overall by Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL Entry Draft.
“It was an honour to be drafted. That’s a really strong option. I’m just trying to keep my options open and haven’t really committed to anything yet,” he said. “That would definitely be a good spot to help me get to the NCAA. Guys are going to the NCAA from all different leagues but the USHL is definitely a good option.
“Only time will tell. Even for schools, everything has been put on hold so I’m just trying to take it day by day and figure out where the best place will be for me moving forward.”
Costantini said he tries not to focus on the situation too much since it is out of his hands.
“I wouldn’t really say it’s frustrating. It’s a world pandemic. There is nothing much anyone is doing right now anyway. We’re all in this together. It’s just going to take time and then hopefully everything starts back up soon.”
Buffalo finished with a 31-17-15 record in the regular season. One of Costantini’s teammates was former Thorold Blackhawks defenceman Michael Craig, who collected four goals and 19 assists in 51 games.
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