21-year-old Adam Rossi joined SFU this season after playing his first year of college hockey in NCAA Div. III with Buffalo State College.
Rossi was already known to the SFU coaching staff from his time playing for the Abbotsford Pilots of the PIJHL, where he racked up 132 points over three seasons.
“Adam was on our radar as a possible recruit a couple years ago and after he decided to go play NCAA… we thought we lost our chance,” said Head Coach Mark Coletta. “Funny how things work and two years later we have him on the roster.”
The move to the BCIHL also brought the Surrey native back home, to a school he knew he wanted to play for.
“Although leaving Buffalo was a tough decision for me, I was really excited about my decision to move back home to SFU. Coming back home, there was only ever one school I wanted to play for and that’s SFU, they have a strong hockey tradition and are widely known for being a top school academically.”
The academic change of pace was the first challenge for the student athlete “I have to say that SFU is much more demanding academically, it’s tough to balance a hard class schedule and hockey, so staying disciplined is key.”
The new academic challenge wasn’t the only change for the 21 year-old. He also had to adapt to a different style of play.
“In the BCIHL its more run and gun hockey and puck possession can be very important,” he said. “But in the NCAA it’s a bit faster and teams try to work specific systems against each other. In both leagues though, the special teams are hugely important, games are won and lost on the powerplay and penalty kill.”
Coletta believes in his new forward’s ability to make the change, “He has great speed and his offensive skills are very good,” he said. “I expect Adam to make the proper adjustments and be a big contributor to our program.”
As his coach predicted, Rossi has been quick to adapt to the BCIHL style of play, racking up 7 assists in his first 9 games with the Clan.
“Getting points is nice, but in college hockey it’s wins that matter,” said Rossi, when asked about his consistent scoring record. “I consider myself a playmaker, and being consistent has always been a strong suit throughout my career so if setting up teammates is what I have to do to help us win then I plan to keep that trend for the whole season… Maybe I should score a couple goals though too.”
“I hope I can be an impact player right away here at SFU. I’ve won a championship before in Junior hockey and have had experience in D3 so I want to take that into my career here and help take us to a championship.
You can catch Rossi and the rest of the Clan at Bill Copeland Sports Centre at 7pm on December 6th for the 3rd annual Teddy Bear Toss.
