When Nick Cafarelli inquired about the British Columbia Hockey League and the Wenatchee Wild at the end of last season, he heard nothing but good things.
After speaking on the phone several times with Wild associate head coach and director of recruiting Leigh Mendelson, who told him the club would love to see him in training camp and that he had a great chance of making the team and filling one of its vacant roster spots, Cafarelli, an 18-year-old center from Middleton, Mass., went with his gut and hopped on a flight to the West Coast.
He was in for a surprise right away.
“I honestly never knew Wenatchee was in the U.S. until I came out here,” Cafarelli said, chuckling. “When I came out for camp, I was like, ‘Wow! We are still in the U.S.!’ ”
Yes, Wenatchee is in central Washington.
“It was funny,” the 5-foot-10, 185-pounder added. “I had no idea.”
Cafarelli also expected Wenatchee to be a small and quiet town, like most places that host a junior team. Instead, he found himself in a city with magnificent scenery and friendly people at every turn.
“It seems like a movie. The mountains are beautiful,” Cafarelli said. “You couldn’t find a better place to play or better place to live. The fans are top-notch. There’s a reason why they say Wild fans are the best fans in the BCHL. The community and the support are unbelievable. It’s a great place to be.”
Those fans are grateful to have Cafarelli on their club. As of Dec. 11, he led the Wild in scoring with 30 points (13-17-30) in 29 games. And the rookie BCHLer is only getting started, considering he’s still getting acclimated to the faster pace and the bigger, stronger and older competition, which features some players who’ve been in the circuit for multiple campaigns.
“Offensively, being strong on pucks and doing everything the coaches harp on has been an adjustment, but it’s going well for me,” the right-handed shooter said. “I’m definitely still adjusting on the defensive side of the puck.”
When Cafarelli is at his best, he is playing physical, hard on pucks, playing well defensively and not getting outworked.
“At this point in my career, playing juniors, it’s not easy to win hockey games at all,” Cafarelli said. “When I’m playing my game, I’m working hard down low, creating scoring opportunities, getting back to help my defensemen, blocking shots, staying with my guys in the defensive zone and winning draws. You have to earn your ice here and not let anybody outwork you in games. It’s crucial.”
Since the BCHL is about not only winning, but also development, by the end of the season Cafarelli wants to have upgraded his defense, overall play in the defensive zone, ability to possess pucks and offense, especially around the opposing crease.
“A lot of guys might say they want to improve their skill, but your skill doesn’t leave you,” he explained. “For me, defense is the biggest part of the game. Defense wins games. Defense wins championships. By the end of the year, I’d like to get back to pucks quicker to help my ‘D’ and be an outlet for breakouts. I’d also like to improve my ability to stay strong on the puck and be hard to move off the puck, and not turn it over. And I must be hungrier around the net five-on-five. Goals aren’t pretty anymore.”
Cafarelli is working equally hard off the ice.
Along with his Wild teammates, he’s been making appearances at elementary schools and senior centers and helping run skills programs for younger players.
“Being involved in the community makes your stay here so much better,” Cafarelli said. “The Wild organization does a great job with that.”
Cafarelli also is taking classes, albeit in a different manner than he did in New England, where he attended and played at Austin Preparatory School for three seasons (2015-18) and Cushing Academy during for 2018-19.
“You’re not in a school setting here. You’re taking classes in the rink instead of going from classes to the rink, which means you’re in the rink all day, and there’s no better feeling than that,” he said. “There are no teachers in front of you, so you are doing a lot of the learning by yourself, which is also different. Other than that, it’s still hard work and you have to make sure you get your assignments done and get good grades.”
Cafarelli looks back on his experiences at Austin Prep and Cushing fondly, noting how both schools helped mold him into a better player and person, which has served him well with the Wild.
“It was such a learning curve when I first went to high school,” he remembered. “I was very fortunate as a freshman to play with older, successful players, such as Ryan Verrier (Reading, Mass., and a sophomore defenseman at the University of New Hampshire) and Collin Murphy (Wilmington, Mass., and a junior blueliner at Northeastern). Those guys had a work ethic through the roof and knew how to compete and win games. I watched what they were doing, and then I applied what I learned from them into my game, which helped me so much as a player.”
Continued Cafarelli: “And playing at Cushing was a great experience. There are a lot of good players in that league, and it was a good stepping stone for me. Going there prepared me to play in the BCHL.”
In his junior year at Austin and his second junior year at Cushing, Cafarelli played with his younger brother, Anthony.
“There’s no better experience than playing with your brother,” Nick said. “I loved every minute of it. We became best friends at Cushing because we were away from the rest of the family, and we just fed off each other, whether it was in school, outside of school or at the rink. We did everything together and to the best of our ability.”
Fast forward to this campaign and Cafarelli is still toiling to the best of his ability — and thriving — with the Wild. And if his game continues to flourish for the remainder of this season, he hopes to be playing closer to home next year for New Hampshire. If not, he might have to wait until the following season.
Regardless, the Wild ace is stoked about getting the opportunity to one day play for the Wildcats.
Concluded Cafarelli: “When I toured there, the coaching staff was so enthusiastic about their school and their program. They took pride in what they were doing. It’s right in my backyard, too. I’ve been going to Wildcat games since I was a little kid. When I went there, it felt like home. It felt like that’s where I needed to be, and that’s where I want to be.”
@LeoScaglioneJr
