When Drew Commesso’s mom, Lisa, attends his games, she not only watches him, but also spends a great amount of time shielding her eyes. It’s rough being a parent of a goaltender.
“I’ve heard how stressed I make her and how nervous she gets during close games,” Commesso chuckled. “She wants the best for me and my team, and I always try to make sure we come out on top.”
Perhaps it’s time for Lisa to rest easy and remove her hands from her face. Her 17-year-old son is on pace to do something special next June.
Last month, Commesso, a native of Norwell, Mass., earned a C rating on National Hockey League Central Scouting’s preliminary players to watch list, which means he’s projected to be selected in the fourth, fifth or sixth round of the 2020 NHL draft. This news was released as the 6-foot-2, 180-pounder was set to start his second season in the USA Hockey National Team Development Program and first with the Under-18 club. He went 14-19-4 with a 3.24 goals-against average, .886 save percentage and three shutouts in 43 games with the Under-17 squad last season.
“Drew has a good combination of being very calm and having a real calm demeanor in net, but he matches that calm demeanor with high-level competitiveness and high-level athleticism,” said Seth Appert, who coached the Under-17 team last season and is the Under-18 bench boss this campaign. “And what impresses me most, other than those things, is his daily approach is fantastic. He’s bought in to the things that we preach here and that we try to teach our guys in terms of coming to the rink and preparing like an NHL player would in how they prepare for practice, the way they take care of their body and how they practice.”
Commesso feels his experiences during his first year in the program taught him to be calmer in the crease.
“Coming into the season, none of us had really played in major international games, particularly against Canada,” he said. “We played against Canada Red in Canada in a sold-out barn in the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. It can get stressful and overwhelming, but you have to stay calm, trust your game, trust yourself and trust all of the training that you’ve done.”
Commesso remembers believing he was a decent skater before he headed to Michigan to begin his two-year tour in the program. He quickly discovered that he needed to upgrade that skill.
“In the United States Hockey League and in college, skating is so important,” Commesso stated. “I was behind on the play at the start of last year because we hadn’t played in the USHL yet and the pace is a lot quicker. I learned that beating pucks on your feet and moving on your feet is so important.”
By season’s end, Commesso said he elevated his skating more than any other on-ice skill thanks to the tutelage of goaltending coach Thomas Speer.
The left-handed-catching goalie also learned the importance of proper time management and recovery.
“We practice for two hours a day, lift for two or three hours and then we have study hall, too,” he said. “No one else in the world our age is doing what we do, so we have to recover a lot more than everyone else. Our strength trainer, (director of sports science) Brian Galivan, has helped us so much and I owe so much of my recent success to him because of how he treats us and how much recovery he makes us do.”
Success never has been a given for Commesso, despite how well he performed last season. After he started playing as a skater at age 6 for the South Shore Seahawks, he moved on to the Bay State Breakers. However, it took him two tries to crack the Breakers’ roster.
“I got cut my first year trying out for them, and in my bedroom I still have the letter from being cut,” Commesso revealed. “I tried out the second year and made it.”
It didn’t take Commesso long to discover his true hockey passion. Since the Breakers only had one goaltender, who missed multiple games due to playing another sport, he volunteered to take over between the pipes. He ended up doing better than anyone expected, much to the chagrin of the displaced netminder.
“When the playoffs were about to start, the other goalie quit because I was playing even when he was there,” Commesso said. “He actually left the team. Then it was just me as the goalie for the Breakers, for six years.”
Commesso fell in love with the position for two reasons. The first is because the goaltender is on the ice for the entire game. The second is because he fancied the equipment, especially the mask.
“It’s like a piece of art nowadays, but back then it was cool because you stood out from the other guys,” he said.
A Boston Bruins fan, Commesso adored the nearly all-white concept Tim Thomas used on his mask during their march to the 2011 Stanley Cup championship. He admires Tuukka Rask’s as well.
“I didn’t like Thomas’ helmet because it was old-school, but the paint job on it was cool,” Commesso said. “And Tuukka’s had the same design forever. His iconic Tuukka symbol is pretty cool. When you look at his helmet, you know it’s his.”
Last season, Commesso included images of 1980 Miracle on Ice goaltender Jim Craig and Uncle Sam on his helmet. This campaign, in addition to including art that symbolizes things close to his heart, he modeled his design off of the mask of Pittsburgh Penguins netminder Matt Murray, one of his idols.
“I put a stripe down the middle, down the top of it, because that’s what Matt has,” Commesso explained. “On the sides I put the USA Hockey logos, and on the back I put a country guitar because I’m a huge country fan. It soothes me and relaxes me before the game. I also have the St. Sebastian’s School logo. I went there from seventh through 10th grade and played for the varsity team my last two years. That school means so much to me, and I’m the person I am today because of that school.”
In addition to copying the stripe on Murray’s mask, Commesso tries to duplicate the goaltender’s style of play.
“I like Murray’s athleticism and compete,” Commesso said. “He’s always square and is such a good skater. His coming into the NHL so young and taking a future Hall of Famer in Marc-Andre Fleury’s job away as a rookie and leading the Penguins to two Cups was incredible and caught my eye.”
Another of Commesso’s favorite goalies is Frederik Andersen of the Toronto Maple Leafs. “Andersen is so compact and smooth,” he said. “He’s one of the top three skaters in the league.”
While Commesso studied his NHL idols growing up, he also had a trio of people on the home front guiding him — the same three people he can lean on for support today.
The first person is his father, John, who doubled as his coach for each of his seasons with the Breakers.
“My dad is always there for me and giving me advice,” Commesso chuckled before adding, “He still gives me advice after each game thinking he’s still a goalie coach. I think I know a little bit more than him now! But it’s always good to hear his side and what he sees, because no one has watched me play more than him.”
When she isn’t hiding behind her hands, Lisa, of course, is another major supporter. “My mom has always been there for comfort and reassurance,” Commesso said. “She’s been my number one fan ever since I started playing. I can’t credit my parents enough. I owe them the world.”
Drew also owes his older cousin Nick Commesso (Marshfield, Mass.) a planet or two. Nick, who was a netminder at Assumption College for four seasons, 2013-17, and is now in his second campaign coaching at Curry College, was the main reason Drew stuck with goaltending.
“I first went to one of his high school (The Governor’s Academy) games when I was about 11 years old, and I still wasn’t sure what position I wanted to play,” Commesso recalled. “He was a goalie and I thought he was the coolest person in the world, so I wanted to follow in his footsteps and play goalie as well. I’ve looked up to him ever since. He gave me one of his sticks from that year, and I still have it hung up on my wall. He has been a positive role model in every possible way, and he’s always there to talk about being a goalie, as well as life stuff. He’s been a great mentor, coach and friend.”
After his time with the Breakers, Commesso split the next two seasons, 2016-17 and 2017-18, playing youth hockey and prep school hockey.
In the former campaign, he enjoyed a memorable run with the South Shore Kings as they reached nationals, which were held in Arizona.
“Two of my teammates now, (forwards) Brett Berard (East Greenwich, R.I.) and Matt Beniers (Hingham, Mass.), were on that team, too,” Commesso reminisced. “That was one of my favorite seasons, and even though we weren’t together too long, it created a lot of memories.”
Commesso played with the Cape Cod Whalers for part of the 2017-18 campaign, but the club was basically Kings 2.0.
“That year was fun because it was mostly all Kings players,” he said. “We were coached by Peter Russo, who I’m still in touch with today, and we played a lot of mini games at practice. Playing for him was a lot of fun.”
Meanwhile, Commesso was rapidly maturing both years at St. Sebastian’s under the guidance of headmaster William L. Burke III.
“I can’t say enough good things about that school,” Commesso said. “Mr. Burke really shaped me into the person I am today. Their motto there is you want to be a good human being over everything. They helped me mature so much quicker. I owe so much to that school.”
Commesso’s next destination was the NTDP. And once his work there is complete, he’ll return to his home state to prepare for next season, when he’ll suit up for Boston University.
Concluded Commesso: “Growing up in the area, I went to Beanpots and watched Jack Eichel and other great players go through there. It was always a dream of mine to play at BU, and when the opportunity presented itself it was a no-brainer for me. Having goalie coach Brian Eklund there is huge; he’s a great guy and a great coach. All of the coaches there — (head coach) Albie O’Connell, (associate head coach) Paul Pearl and (assistant coach) Len Quesnelle — have come out here a couple of times to see our games. I’m looking forward to playing for them."
