UMass-Lowell lands Jr. Coyotes grad Colantone M
By Brett Fera
aking a decision on where to attend college is an especially proud moment for any family. For the family of Cave Creek’sMichael Col-
antone, the fact this particular decision includes playing college hockey for an NCAA Division I program, to boot, gives it even greater meaning. Hockey has long been a bond for Colantone
- currently a British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) standout who recently accepted a schol- arship to attend UMass-Lowell - and his father, Michael Sr. When the family moved from New York’s Long
Island to Arizona, young Michael was only 7 and had little exposure to the game of hockey, except for his Brooklyn-bred father’s love of the hometown New York Rangers. “My dad and I learned to skate together,” he
recalled fondly. “He was playing men’s league, I was playing Mites. It was something he and I could share together. “We weren’t really a hockey family until my
generation. My parents are almost obsessed with it now.” Michael Sr. shares virtually the exact same
memory. “We were part of the very first Ice Den learn-to-
skate program,” he said, noting that his son had played a season of roller hockey before making the move to ice. “He switched over to the Ice Den when it opened and the rest, as they say, I guess, is his- tory. “It’s almost like yesterday. I can remember him
crying because he couldn’t skate backwards,” his dad joked.
Playing junior hockey this season in the BCHL, Michael Colan- tone will begin his NCAA Division I career next fall. Photo/Prince George Spruce Kings
It’s safe to say that isn’t a problem for Michael
Jr. now. After years as a standout with the Coyotes Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) and then the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes Tier I Elite program, the 6- foot, 190-pound forward is an offensive force for the Prince George Spruce Kings. Entering the New Year, Colantone had 22 goals
and 30 assists in his first 37 games - averaging just shy of a point-and-a-half per outing in the Junior A circuit. While Colantone has never struggled to show-
case his talent, the junior hockey road has been a crash course on life lessons and perseverance. In
time it’s been a shock for me,” he said. “You’re in a place, you’re trying to make it your home, then all of a sudden you’re shipped out.” That doesn’t faze him, however. While on one
hand he wonders why teams are willing to part ways, it’s easy to argue the opposite: He’s been worth something to the teams looking to acquire him. That’s part of why the 20-year-old can’t wait to
head east again and make his new semi-perma- nent home in the northern Massachusetts town of Lowell. “It was a pretty easy decision,” he said of
UMass-Lowell, which plays in the powerhouse Hockey East conference with the likes of Boston College, Boston University, New Hampshire and Maine and entered January ranked No. 12 in the nation. “It’s a good academic school, and a good hockey school.” Colantone will almost be 21 when he enrolls
in the fall as a freshman. That’s not abnormal for junior hockey players, and, in Colantone’s case, he’s not sure he would’ve been 100 percent ready for col- lege right out of high school. “I’ve had a couple more years to mature, and the
life experiences have really helped me,” he said. “I graduated high school as a 17-year-old, and I wasn’t really ready to go off to college and focus on the rest of my life. “I got to go play hockey for a couple of years, and
now I’m ready. “It’s been great; I wouldn’t take any of it back.”
RubberHockey.com 5
just three seasons, Colantone is with his fifth junior squad after he was traded earlier this season from the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies. “I’ve been traded a couple of times, and every
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