RinkWise podcast: Aaron Volpatti on overcoming adversity through visualization

Former Brown University captain Aaron Volpatti played five NHL seasons between 2010-15. (Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

A former Brown University captain and National Hockey League forward, Aaron Volpatti joins Kirk Luedeke on the latest episode of New England Hockey Journal’s “RinkWise” podcast.

Volpatti, who hails from Revelstoke, B.C., played three seasons of junior A hockey with the Vernon Vipers (BCHL) before attending Brown in Providence, R.I.

He spent all four seasons with the Bears before embarking on a five-year pro career that saw him suit up in five NHL seasons with the Washington Capitals and Vancouver Canucks between 2010-15.

Now working as a performance coach, Volpatti, 36, joins the podcast to discuss his playing style and how he was able to carve a niche for himself, how he ended up at Brown after an unexpected off-ice injury, experiences as a pro and more.

Due to an accident that occurred years prior to his arrival in the pros, it wasn’t certain if the undrafted forward would ever get the chance to play hockey, let alone make it to the NHL.

After his second season with the Vipers in the summer of 2005, things went south on a team camping trip. Volpatti sustained second- and third-degree burns to over 35 percent of his body due to a gas-related bonfire accident and was hospitalized for five months.

“I was playing around with gas and fire and the next thing you know I basically blew myself up … I got airlifted to Vancouver Hospital, woke up in the morning, and I was pretty knocked out from the painkillers, but it all started coming back to me,” Volpatti said.

“I was a pretty reckless young man to say the least.”

Entering his final season of junior hockey eligibility without a college commitment, it was a troubling time for the 20-year-old.

“They told me in the hospital that I wasn’t going to play hockey (that season),” Volpatti said. “They didn’t say never, but naturally I asked. I had one more crack at the can, one more year of eligibility to get a scholarship. And again, no one was knocking down the door to offer me a ride. I hadn’t talked to one college in two years.”

Two weeks into his hospital stay, Volpatti received a phone call. On the other line was his coach in Vernon. He had some news.

“I think his exact words were: ‘The coach from Brown said I need a guy to put the fear of God into the defenseman of the Ivy League’,” Volpatti remembered.

“My coach said, ‘I got the perfect guy for you, there’s just one problem.’ So I called the (Brown) assistant coach at the time and it was pretty open-ended. They just wished me the best in my recovery.”

With a potential offer on the table if he could just get back on the ice, Volpatti made a decision that night that changed his life.

“I just started asking why the doctors are telling me that I can’t play hockey in a few months. It’s going to be too painful, all of the skin grafts that I’m going to have to have are going to be too limiting, I can’t sweat properly, the risk of infection is too high. There was this big long list,” Volpatti said.

“I basically made a decision that night those weren’t good enough reasons for me. I was 20 years old and I had worked too hard to get this opportunity for a scholarship. I made a decision and I refused to let that be my story and the way it ended for me.”

Visualizing his future success was a big part of the efforts he put in over the next few months.

“My mind was all I had,” Volpatti said. “I was bed-ridden and couldn’t move. So I just started visualizing my body heading at a cellular level and those burns rejuvenating and then walking out of the hospital and putting on my gear and signing that letter to Brown.”

In the end, after multiple surgeries and a handful of complications that arose during the process, he did just that.

“Not without a lot of pain and adversity along the way, but I (played 25 games that season), signed with Brown, and then shut it down for the rest of the year because I was on crutches coming into the rink just so I could play.”

After recording a career-high 32 points over 37 games as a senior at Brown in 2009-10, Volpatti signed a free-agent contract with the Vancouver Canucks in March 2010, kickstarting his pro career.

For more from Aaron Volpatti on overcoming adversity through visualization, his career at Brown, experiences as a pro hockey player and more, listen to the full episode of NEHJ’s “RinkWise” podcast today.

The podcast, which typically drops Friday mornings, can be streamed on all major platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and online at hockeyjournal.com/podcast.

RinkWise is brought to you by Paul Vincent Hockey, Laura Stamm International Power Skating, Sacred Heart University and University of Nebraska High School.