Bozzuto Leads a New Team On The Ice

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Nick Bozzuto, formerly of Greenwich High School guards the net for East Texas Baptist University.

By Rob Adams

Sentinel Reporter

One of the last times Greenwich saw Nick Bozzuto in his Cardinals sweater, his arms were raised to celebrate the 2016 FCIAC ice hockey championship in Stamford. The title was a result of hard work and individual effort as the Cards won their first conference title since 2009.

Since graduating almost a year ago, Bozzuto has moved on to be a leader on a new team.

A completely new team.

Bozzuto is finishing up his freshman year at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, TX. The Greenwich resident stopped by Greenwich Sentinel Doubleheader on WGCH Radio last week before driving back down to Texas to finish the school year.

Guests Tony Cankles and Chris Geideman (of Crew Restaurant in Greenwich) peppered the goalie with questions about ETBU and how the university changed his future plans as the school was starting a hockey program.

“I was going to kind of retire from hockey,” Bozzuto said. “I was actually just going to go to school in Connecticut.”

He said he might have played hockey in a mens league, but his hockey career would otherwise be over.

“One day I got a call from the coach,” he said. “He wanted me to come down to visit so I went down two days later. A week later I was going to school.”

Nick, the son of Butch and Sandy Bozzuto, was a forward as a youth player, but shifted to goalie and “fell in love with it,” but added that he still dabbles as a forward at times.

“I play that for fun,” he said.

While he says he plays in the style of Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens and loves the style of New York Rangers goalie Mike Richter, Bozzuto said he has always looked up to another Rangers star: current netminder Henrik Lundqvist.

“I’ve always looked up to him as a leader,” he said. “Now I’m starting to play more like Jonathan Quick. He’s more flexible.”

Quick, a Connecticut product from Hamden, went on to play in school at Avon Old Farms before winning two Stanley Cups with Los Angeles Kings – one of them against Lundqvist and the Rangers, though it’s best to not bring that up to Bozzuto.

While Bozzuto is also a rabid New York Mets fan, hockey is his clear passion, and that was something that appealed to ETBU.

The Texas university, which plays at Division III, has fourteen teams at that level, along with six club teams. Besides ice hockey, bass fishing and rugby were recently added to the portfolio. Coach Carson Combs said they needed a rock in net.

“I finally got connected with Nick Bozzuto in late summer and after finding out that he was the number 1 ranked high school goalie in CT,” Combs said. “When Nick came to visit, I was confident he would be a good fit for us and vice versa. When practices started, Nick quickly established himself as our #1 goalie.

“Nick brought a cool and confident demeanor to every game. When a team has confidence in their goalie, it is much easier for them to play their game. Nick gave us just that. Had Nick not been as good as he was his first year, we would not have been able to accomplish our goal in having a winning first season. We are grateful to have Nick and are looking forward to helping him develop as a player and as a young man.”

Going from Greenwich, in the shadow of New York City and part of the “megalopolis” of the northeastern United States to Marshall, TX (population approximately 25,000) has been a little bit of a culture shock for Bozzuto. He has to attend a church service as part of being a student at ETBU, and home games are played in Shreveport, LA – a 45-minute drive.

“It wasn’t a huge adjustment for me,” he said. “I grew up in a Christian family, with my grandmother and uncle working in a church. We have to go to chapel twice a week, and take a religion class one semester. So that’s the biggest adjustment: having to go sit in church twice a week.”

Bozzuto described building the program at ETBU as special.

“It’s different,” he said. “It’s hard to recruit guys to come down to Texas to play hockey. You don’t expect a warm sport to be played there.”

He added that fan support has been outstanding, and the results have helped. The team started 0-5 but finished the season over the .500 mark at 12-11. Bozzuto pitched in with two shutouts between the pipes.

“People are starting to follow hockey,” he said. “Shreveport is starting to get the fans back with the Mudbugs, which plays in the North American Hockey League.”

Looking back, he says the highlight of the season was the first win, beating Texas State University 7-6 on Sept 30, 2016.

“We don’t have a rival, but I think Dallas Baptist University, because our Athletic Director and new President were over there before,” he said.

Bozzuto drove back to Texas following his visit home and will of course come back to Greenwich whenever he can. For now, he continues to enjoy life in Texas, with a prospect camp this summer, and expects a full roster to compete as he goes into his sophomore year.

So much for those retirement plans from hockey.

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