New England Hockey Journal - December 2015 - 13

The East Longmeadow, Mass.,
native recognizes he's only in
the dawn of his career and nothing is ever truly guaranteed at
the pro level. That's precisely
why he worked so diligently in
rookie camp and training camp
to leave a lasting impression on
management.
After all, he's just the kid
fresh out of college trying to
navigate the fickle nature of
goal scoring. There naturally
will be periods when the well
runs dry, and that's when Vatrano can lean on the advice of
a fellow left winger.
"Brad Marchand pulled me
aside one time and told me what
I was doing well and things I
could work on," Vatrano said.
"Those kind of inputs at camp
really put it in my head to pay
attention to the little things. His

words still resonate with me today because those little things
can decide whether or not you
make it in the NHL."
The learning moments don't
stop there, though, as Jay Pandolfo (Burlington, Mass.) routinely works with Vatrano on a slew
of areas. As a veteran of nearly
900 NHL games, it's hard to envision a better mentor for Vatrano.

"Jay Pandolfo, our development guy, has really helped so
many parts of my game," he said.
"He always preaches about my
defensive game and how it can
get better, and I know it needs to
improve. Whether it's shooting
pucks or picking pucks off the
wall, Pandolfo is the best at that
stuff. I always go to him when I
need to work on little things."

As early season signs indicate,
Vatrano is gradually fine-tuning
the unheralded aspects of his
game. Micheletto even called the
forward's work ethic one of the
best he's ever seen, and that diligence paved the way for an immediate spot on the Providence
Bruins' power play. It even led to
a four-goal explosion on Oct. 11
against the Portland Pirates.
Down in Providence, he also
developed impressive chemistry
with two of the Bruins' premier
prospects: Austin Czarnik and
Alexander Khokhlachev. The
former got injured in mid-October, paving the way for a prolific
partnership with "Koko," and Vatrano didn't miss a beat with the
Michigan native or Russian.
"Playing with Austin was awesome because he can get me the
puck," Vatrano said. "Playing
with Koko has been great, too,
because he's a similar player to
Czarnik. They're two guys that
can make plays and the game a
lot easier on me. I can't complain
one bit because there's a bunch of
great guys down in Providence."
Khokhlachev suffered a hand
injury in early November, while
Vatrano got the somewhat unexpected call-up to the big club.
While Vatrano is slowly developing a 200-foot game, he still
falls back on his bread and butter
- a lethal shot. Just ask Micheletto about the 21-year-old's first
UMass tally and a light is shed
on the true Frank Vatrano.
"When he scored his first
goal, a photographer captured
a fantastic close-up of Frankie's
celebration, and the look on his
face in that shot summarized

December 2015

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images; Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty
Images (first goal); Dave Arnold/New England Hockey Journal

Frank Vatrano celebrates
after scoring his first NHL
goal with David Krejci
to his right against the
Montreal Canadiens on
Nov. 7 in Montreal.

how enjoyable goal-scoring is
for him," Micheletto said. "He
plays with a lot of joy, a real excitement for the game, and I'll
never forget that ear-to-ear grin."
Time will tell how far his ascension goes. He avoided the
bumpy road many young guns
encounter in Providence and
has shown few signs of slowing
down.
"He definitely has a great future with Boston and he's one
of their top prospects," Divver
said. "It wouldn't shock me at
all to see him up there full time
next year. But, there's a long
way to go before then."
Vatrano isn't letting the success get to his head. Instead, he's
relishing every moment of his
boyhood dream becoming reality.
"If anyone asked where I'd be
a few months ago, I couldn't tell
them. Right now it's just such
a surreal feeling," Vatrano said.
"Being around those guys at the
big club is a dream come true
and something I never really
felt would happen to me."
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New England Hockey Journal - December 2015

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