Nick Sciabarra did not expect this level of success when he joined the Oregon club hockey team earlier this fall.

The Oregon freshman never thought he’d be playing center instead of right wing, which he previously played. He never thought he’d be on the second line for his first year with the Ducks. And he certainly never thought that, during his rookie season, he’d be tied for first in assists as well as be the second-leading player in points and goals on the team, just two behind junior Alex Sulitzer in both categories.

“I thought I’d be playing third or fourth line,” Sciabarra said. “And never would I have dreamed that I’d play center. I’ve never played that in my life. This is all new to me.”

For Sciabarra, his hockey story started when he was three. His dad took him to a Saturday public skate, strapped a pair of skates to his feet, and started teaching him the ropes.

Then at four, he was on his first team.

“(My dad) basically adopted hockey for me,” Sciabarra joked. “I’ve been brainwashed ever since.”

His father always had a major role in Sciabarra’s hockey career. Until the age of twelve, his dad was his head coach of every team he’d been on and, according to Sciabarra, being coached by his dad was an important part of him growing as a player.

“I was always the coach’s son,” he said. “I didn’t want to be ‘that kid’ who was always on the ice because his dad was the coach, so I had to prove that (he being coach) wasn’t the only reason I was on the ice.”

Even though the years since his father coached him have long since passed, Sciabarra still gets pointers from the man who gave him his start.

“He watches all of my games,” he said. “He always notices little things I can improve on and points those out. He’s always telling me to work hard and to, ‘Skate hard, Nick.’ Plus he’s my dad. He’s not going to give me bad advice.’”

The advice seems to be working.

“He’s really hard to track,” Ducks goalie Trevor Peterson said. “When he’s on one-on-one, the hardest thing is knowing which direction he’s going because he can change really, really quickly.”

“He’s a dangler,” Peterson said. “He scores pretty goals.”

Even though Sciabarra is surprised by his success, his former teammate from back home wasn’t.

“He was a playmaker,” former teammate Dylan Dixon said. “He always found the open guy to pass to. He was always working hard. He was one of the guys who would never give up.”

Even though his teammates attribute Sciabarra’s success to hard work and a good on-ice attitude, he believes that the focus should never be on one player and it’s important to remain humble.

“You definitely want to be good to yourself and focus on personal success,” he said. “But definitely the team is your main responsibility. That’s your main goal, for the team to succeed.  You know that if someone makes a play and scores, that’s just as good as you scoring.”

Follow Anne Yilmaz on Twitter @anneyilmaz

[Originally published here by the Daily Emerald on December 7, 2013]