The trickle-down effect of the National Hockey League lockout has begun to take effect on an Okotoks Oilers alumnus.
Former Oiler David Civitarese’s plans for his first National Hockey League training camp with the Washington Capitals were put on hold when the players were locked out on Sept. 15.
Fortunately, the Calgarian already secured a professional contract with the Capitals’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Hershey Bears.
“I was thrilled to have something like this ahead of this mess of a lockout,” Civitarese said of the job security offered by a contract. “It would have been a great experience to go to an NHL camp, but now it’s up to me to earn a spot there next year.”
His road to professional hockey has been a bumpy one at times.
Civitarese laced up his skates with the Junior A Oilers from 2006-08, finishing with 42 goals and 100 points in 119 games. He earned a scholarship to Colorado College with a big assist by Gary Vanhereweghe, his head coach with the Oilers at the time, halfway through his rookie season in Okotoks.
Then the transition from Junior A to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association brought its share of challenges for the six-foot-two forward.
“Every time you move up another level it’s important to find a new niche and I had to embrace a fourth-line, penalty killer role,” Civitarese said. “I didn’t play a lot in my first year, but I eventually was given a third line, second line centre role.”
His big break came in the summer following his Junior year with Colorado when he earned an invite to Capitals’ development camp in 2011.
“My advisor had a connection and (the Bears scouts) watched me play a game against Boston College in the round of eight (of the Frozen Four tournament), they had a scout in the stands and I guess they liked what they saw,” Civitarese said. “Those free agent spots are hard to get, they usually reserve spots for draft picks so it was a huge opportunity for me.”
He parlayed the camp experience, along with a touch of fortune when a string of injuries hit the Hershey roster, into a 10-game apprenticeship with the Bears at the end of the 2011-12 regular season.
“I learned a ton from those 10 games,” said Civitarese, adding the pro game emphasized precision. “Getting used to being more calm and poised with the puck, the defence, the systems are zone defence instead of man to man like it is in college.”
Civitarese, who signed a one-year, one-way deal with the Bears in the spring, is the first Oiler to earn a professional contract in the AHL.
“I was pretty surprised and humbled by that,” Civitarese said. “To be the first at anything is pretty cool and I respect the program and the players that have come out of it and I’m sure they’ll be some other guys on the way pretty soon.”
Civitarese could be joined in the professional ranks by a number of Oiler graduates.
Everett Sheen, a teammate of Civaterese’s in 2006-07 with the Oilers, played four games with the Providence Bruins of the AHL last season on loan from the East Coast Hockey League’s Reading Royals.
University of North Dakota senior forward Corban Knight, a fifth round pick of the Florida Panthers in 2009, is poised for a professional contract once he finishes his college career. Knight’s teammate with the Fighting Sioux, Derek Rodwell, is a New Jersey Devils’ fifth round pick from the same draft class. Then there’s defenceman Rhett Holland, the lowest NHL draft pick in Oilers history, 102nd overall to the Phoenix Coyotes this summer, who is entering his first season with Michigan State University.
Oilers president Wayne Lauinger said he wasn’t surprised to see Civitarese reach this height in his hockey career.
“An extremely skilled hockey player, he could skate, he could shoot, he could pass, he’s a big guy, very offensive and a great, great individual,” Lauinger said. “He had a couple things to pick up on in the path and it looks like he’s succeeded in doing that and has completed his game very well at Colorado.
“He was one you can look at and see he had all the tools to be there.”
Lauinger said Civitarese’s ascension serves as validation for the effectiveness of the Oilers as a Junior A program in developing players for the next level.
“It’s quite a deal because it puts you one step below the National Hockey League and that’s very exciting,” Lauinger said. “It goes to show the program has worked. He’s developed here, gone on to develop at the next level being Colorado College and now he’s moved on to the next step. It’s the path that we strive to put our players into and he’s succeeded at every level.”
Civitarese is doing everything to ensure a successful future.
Rather than throw all his eggs in the athletic basket, Civitarese, who holds a BSC in physics from Colorado College, plans to pursue medical school in the future.
“There’s so much downtime in the pro hockey lifestyle that I can study for the MCAT or volunteer and do those types of things that look good on a résumé.”
A resume the talented and determined 23-year-old keeps building every day.
