Whether he's in the classroom, in the weight room, or on the ice, Tim Busconi is as mild-mannered as it gets.
The 2004-born defenseman from Milton, Mass., simply goes about his business and puts in the work to improve. He may not be the most skilled or talked-about ’04 blueliner in the New England prospects circuit, but that hasn’t stopped him yet.
After a productive summer, Busconi, a longtime Boston Advantage player, parlayed his rising stock into a college commitment, pledging his future services to Albie O'Connell (Watertown, Mass.) and the Boston University staff on Aug. 19.
Now, he's taking the next step.
The six-foot, 155-pound right-shot defenseman began the 2021-22 season as a standout defenseman with the Advantage’s 18-U team but has since moved up to play in the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC), with plans to move on to the USHL for 2022-23.
“Timmy’s been an Advantage player since he was six, seven years old. He's just a kid that has been getting better every year,” Advantage 18-U head coach Eric Healey said. “He's a very smart hockey player -- he doesn’t try to do anything out of his wheelhouse.
“He's just a good puck-moving defenseman; very good defensively, can run your power play, and he does it all very quietly. He’s not flashy but he does everything very, very well.”
Busoni's commitment to the Terriers was the product of years of development within the Advantage program.
Instead of taking the high school, prep, or academy route, Busconi opted to stay put, working closely with Healey, Tim Lovell (Norwood, Mass.) and other Advantage staffers while attending Milton public school.
“I really like the personal development,” Busconi said of the Hingham-based program. “They really focus on each and every player, which has really helped me focus on what I’ve needed to improve on.
“I kind of just looked at it as, ‘Am I going to improve more at a prep school or staying with the Advantage?’ And I really just felt like Advantage was the best fit for me.”
While the 16-U team only managed to play limited games last season, Busconi did enough to put himself on the map.
O’Connell and the Terriers had their eyes on the homegrown defenseman from the start.
“They’d been watching me for a little while, but they really got to watch me at the Lovell Combine,” Busconi said. “I played there, went on campus and that was really it.”
Living 20 minutes away from BU, it’s long been a dream to play for the Terriers on Comm. Ave., Busconi said, who watched as the team won multiple Beanpot and Hockey East championships (as well as a national title) growing up.
“I’ve always wanted to go there, especially as a young kid watching them in the Beanpot and everything like that. It’s a great place to go and I think it should be a really good fit for me.”
For Healey (a native of Hull, Mass., whose own son and fellow Advantage-lifer, Ryan Healey, is a Harvard commit in the USHL) was thrilled to see Busconi's development result in a commitment.
A former minor-league player himself -- Healey appeared in two games for the Boston Bruins during the 2005-06 season -- he's eager to see what his future has in store.
“We really think that he’ll be a good four-year player for BU -- one that they can rely on," Healey said. "He's accountable. I think that's what Albie liked in him is that he’s a very good, solid defenseman that he will be able to count on for four years.”
With the jump to the NCDC already underway, Busconi, who's classified as a junior, plans on playing another year of junior hockey before returning to Boston.
“I think the NCDC will help me make the smoothest transition into wherever I am next year,” he said. “Right now I want to play juniors just so I can get a jump on playing at the next level and try to go into college relatively on time.”
In the meantime, with time in the weight room his biggest area of focus, it’s full-steam ahead for the Milton native as he moves deeper into 2022.
“He is a very, very mild-mannered, quiet kid,” Healey said. “He goes about his business and works hard in the gym, he works hard in practice, and he’s very committed to the game and making himself a better player every day.
"He's not the one that (people) talk about all the time, but I'll take him every day of the week.”
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