When Sam Colangelo wasn’t invited to USA Hockey’s Select 15 player development camp in 2016, the forward from Stoneham, Mass., started thinking he wasn’t as good as he thought he was at the sport.
Turns out, all he needed was time to grow.
Taller and stronger, Colangelo was named to the Select 16 camp the following summer. One year later, he earned a spot in the Select 17 camp. The accolades didn’t stop there, though.
Now boasting a 6-foot-2, 205-pound frame, the 18-year-old’s most recent honor came just last month, when he was listed 33rd overall among North American skaters in National Hockey League Central Scouting’s midterm rankings for the 2020 NHL Draft.
“Everyone dreams of getting drafted, but the draft isn’t until June,” Colangelo said. “I have to keep working and get my name higher on those lists.”
His name already is in the upper echelon of the United States Hockey League’s scoring leaders. In his first full season with the Chicago Steel in the USHL, the right-handed shooter is in the top 10 in the circuit in scoring with 43 points (19 goals, 24 assists) in 33 games.
“Sam is the type of player who can control a game,” Steel head coach Brock Sheahan said. “He’s big in stature, he’s strong, and he has the ability to make plays. When he has the puck on his stick, he’s got a great chance of scoring a goal, but he also has the ability to find his teammates, which is a unique skill set for a player who can score a lot of goals. He can do both. His play away from the puck has gotten much better, especially since the beginning of the year. He’s a great kid, works hard and is a lot of fun for us to coach.”
Sheahan added that Colangelo is “a throwback in a way,” noting that his ace skater responds really well when called out or challenged.
“That’s something that’s unique in this day and age, and it’s going to help him because he’s able to learn from mistakes quickly that way,” Sheahan said. “As a coach, it’s nice having a player like him, where you can be direct with him and talk one-on-one with him and he’ll make those adjustments.”
What’s impressed Sheahan the most about Colangelo is, even though he’s thriving, he still wants to learn and take his play to a higher tier, and puts in the work to accomplish that goal.
“For any young kid who’s having success, sometimes it can be tough for them to add pieces to their game because they think they can get away with playing a certain way,” Sheahan said. “Sam understands that for him to be the player he wants to be at the next level, and moving forward after that, he has to add pieces to his game, and he’s not afraid to work on his game. I still think there’s a long way for him to go, but he’s really starting to become the player that he can be.”
Colangelo, who primarily played for Lawrence Academy the last three seasons, first skated in the USHL last year, scoring three goals in 11 regular-season games and appearing in a pair of Clark Cup playoff contests with the Steel.
“I expected the USHL to be a lot faster than prep school, and it was,” Colangelo said. “I wanted to get a taste of what it was like — day-to-day life — because I hadn’t decided if I was going to play for Lawrence or Chicago this season. Chicago was everything I expected it to be. The coaching staff is second to none, and how much better we get every single day and how much time and effort they put into us is unbelievable. It was hard for me to leave Lawrence and the relationships I had there with head coach Robbie Barker, my teammates and my best friends, but I don’t regret it. I wouldn’t be where I am without being in Chicago for the past couple of months.”
Colangelo also wouldn’t be one of the USHL’s top performers and on the precipice of being drafted by an NHL organization if he hadn't been introduced to the ice game by his father, Mark, and his cousin Mike Weaver (Wakefield, Mass.). Mark played hockey growing up and raised Mike, who went on to play Division 3 hockey at Nichols College.
When Sam was just 8 months old, Mark placed him in skates, and off he went.
“I fell in love with hockey right away,” Sam said.
Colangelo got his start in organized hockey with the Middlesex Islanders, playing up a year, until advancing to the Boston Junior Eagles and later the South Shore Kings. He then suited up for the Junior Bruins, Neponset Valley River Rats and Boston Little Bruins.
Colangelo credits his coaches with these teams, including Joakim Wahlstrom (Islanders), Topher Bevis (Junior Bruins), Chris Masters (Junior Bruins) and John Joyce (Junior Eagles), for aiding his development. He particularly remembers the knowledge he gained from Masters and Joyce.
“Coach Masters was harder on us than most parents would like, but my dad was on the bench with him and he loved it,” Colangelo said. “He was hard on us from a young age, but he instilled hard work, and no matter what age we were he had us doing complex drills, which developed kids’ hockey IQs. I still keep in touch with him. He’s important in the hockey world, and he’s a great person to have on my side.
“And Coach Joyce, I played for him for three years. He played at Boston College, so he played at a high level and knows a lot about the game. He wasn’t as hard on us, but he knew when it was the right time to give us a kick in the bum. He definitely taught me a lot and I credit him a lot for where I am today.”
And then there’s Barker, who was more than just Colangelo’s bench boss at Lawrence. He also was his adviser and one of his teachers.
“He’s almost like a second father to me,” Colangelo said. “He always preaches that tradition never graduates. I was in their locker room with about 30 Lawrence alumni in December when Lawrence played Cushing Academy, and he talked about how much you buy in and become a family and how you’ll remember each of your teammates in a couple of years.
"He then made a joke that tradition never graduates and neither does Colangelo, because I didn’t graduate. It was funny, but at the same time it’s true. I’m still best friends with all of my friends from Lawrence. If you buy in and become part of the team, it’s incredible how much better you can be than you ever thought you could be.”
Colangelo is proof of that final line.
In 2016-17, his first season at the school, he recorded 14 points (2 goals, 12 assists) in 27 games. Used to being one of the best players on his teams, the freshman used that campaign to adapt to the challenge of playing prep school hockey.
“I played a lot, but my production wasn’t what it was years before," Colangelo said. "However, I learned a lot from the leaders on the team, such as Craig Needham (Medford, Mass.), who plays at Providence College now, and Sam Swanson, who doesn’t play hockey anymore. I saw how hard each of them worked in the gym and on the ice, and how every day they ate healthy. With the older guys, it was hockey or nothing.”
Colangelo was given more responsibility as a sophomore and played on a line with Neil Shea (Marshfield, Mass.) and Gunnarwolfe Fontaine (East Greenwich, R.I.). All he did was triple his point production, totaling 42 points (13 goals, 29 assists) in 29 games, and help lead his club to the Piatelli/Simmons small-school championship.
In his last season at Lawrence, Colangelo served as an alternate captain and registered 48 points (19 goals, 29 assists) in 28 games, putting the finishing touches on a memorable trio of seasons.
“It’s a great feeling playing for your school,” he said. “You’re playing with your best friends and seeing them at school. You’re building relationships. I talk to kids in Chicago who didn’t go to prep school and they don’t really get it. A lot of them are jealous that they didn’t get to experience what I and a couple other kids on the team got to experience.”
Colangelo’s favorite hockey moment so far came two years ago when was named to the United States team that competed at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where he scored two goals in five games. He represented his country again last December at the 2019 World Junior A Challenge, where the Americans captured the bronze medal.
“Wearing the USA logo on your chest never fails to disappoint,” Colangelo said. “It’s one of the best feelings in the world, like no other. Hopefully I’ll be able to win a gold medal someday wearing the USA jersey.”
Despite not winning the title in either tournament, Colangelo learned valuable lessons about what it takes to be successful in international competitions.
“You have to take pride in and accept your role, whatever your role may be,” he said. “I had a bigger role at the WJAC than I did at Hlinka, but each player has to buy in to their role. Most of us are the best players from wherever we are coming from, but there’s only going to be one first line, one second line, one third line and one fourth line. If everyone buys in to their role, it’s amazing how much a team can do.
"But if kids think they’re going to be on the first line and then aren’t happy when they don’t get those minutes, it’s hard to do great things. Both of my experiences were good; I had great teammates. I look forward to playing for the USA again someday.”
Colangelo also can’t wait to skate for Northeastern, where he’ll be playing starting with the 2020-21 season. It was the first college he ever toured, when he was in eighth grade.
“I grew up always wanting to go to a Beanpot school, and Northeastern is the best option for me,” Colangelo said. “My dad knew (associate head coach) Jerry Keefe a little bit and I’ve had a close relationship with him from the second I met him. Everything he preached made sense to me, and it seemed like he knew my game better than anyone I ever met, maybe even more than I did. I’m super excited to get on campus next season.”
In the end, it turns out Colangelo was right — he’s as good at playing hockey as he thought he was all along.
@LeoScaglioneJr
