Bolzano's NHL great: He dropped out of college and then made a career

When talking to Matt Frattin, you quickly realize that he doesn't particularly like to talk about this one chapter in his life. And yet it had a decisive influence on his later career, which took him to the ice hockey Olympus known as the NHL. The now 35-year-old Canadian was in his early 20s and visited the University of north dakota in the USA and played good ice hockey on the local college team. Not to say excellent. At the age of 19, he was drafted 99th by the NHL franchise Toronto Maple Leafs. He was supposed to mature in college so that he could later make the leap to the big leagues. But suddenly this dream was overturned.

“Some stuff happened off the ice and I got kicked off the team and out of college,” Frattin explains. An online article from that time says that the teenager and a teammate threw objects onto a street and were later caught by campus police driving while intoxicated. So Frattin had to leave college and return to his Canadian home of Edmonton. “My father made me work there. We have a bakery at home and I just pitched in there,” said the HCB striker.

He borrowed money to keep the dream alive At that time, Frattin was going through an uncertain time. “Of course, when you drop out of college you don’t know whether your hockey career is over or not. But I still really wanted to do it. I did a lot of training myself at home and also kept in shape with a junior team,” says Frattin. After six months, he got a relieving call from his college coach who wanted to give him a second chance. The ice hockey talent returned to North Dakota, but initially without a scholarship. And so Frattin took out a $10.000 loan so he could continue working toward his NHL dream.

Fully committed: Matt Frattin (right) in the Toronto jersey. © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / CLAUS ANDERSEN

It was an investment that paid off. From then on, Frattin was no longer a rascal, but a reformed young adult who subordinated everything to his great goal. At the beginning of the 2010/11 season he won the team's internal fitness competition because he had worked so hard in the offseason. An outstanding year in the college championship followed - and finally his NHL debut in the spring of 2011. “I can still remember how turbulent it all was back then. The college finals had just ended when I signed a contract with Toronto and made my debut the next night. My parents, my siblings, my cousins – everyone came. I was proud of myself back then,” Frattin still beams today. “Playing against Sidney Crosby was a wow moment.” Matt Frattin That match was the starting signal for an adventurous time in the best league in the world, in which Frattin played for Toronto for three seasons and also donned the jersey of the Los Angeles Kings and Columbus Blue Jackets in one season. “The impressive thing was the opponents on the ice: I sometimes played against professionals who used to be my idols. I particularly remember meeting Sidney Crosby: that was a wow moment.”

Frattin also played 40 games for the Los Angeles Kings. © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / STEPHEN DUNN

Frattin played a total of 141 games in the NHL (37 points), plus 250 games in the AHL (173 points), the second highest division, where he played for the farm teams parallel to the NHL. In 2017 he finally moved away from North America and to the KHL, which had been recommended to him by a former teammate. The Canadian spent five seasons in the Russian league, wearing the jersey of the Kazakh club Barys Astana and the Russian representative Ak Bars Kazan. He also made a short detour to Lausanne in the Swiss National League. “It was a nice time in the KHL, it was just the long journeys that were tough,” says Frattin.

To Bolzano – also because of the family history Last summer the father of three finally moved to Bolzano. “I always wanted to play in Italy because my grandparents are from here. Some of my cousins who we have already visited this year also live in Treviso,” explains Frattin, who at 35 is also thinking about his future: “After the season I have to sit down with my wife and then we will decide how it continues. Anyway, I like it here.”

So Matt Frattin has had an eventful career. It's a career that can be compared a little with his current playing time at HC Bozen. Initially a bit hesitant and under the radar, he has improved over time and is at his best in the playoffs with his physical style of play, technical finesse and wealth of experience. In the autumn of his sporting career, the 35-year-old could also achieve a feat that has so far been eluded to him in adult ice hockey. Matt Frattin has never been a champion. That would literally gild his extraordinary career.

ICE Regular Season ICE	SP	TV	P
1. Klagenfurt	47	183:101	102
2. Fehervar	46	146:126	89
3. Salzburg	46	142:107	87
4. HCB South Tyrol	46	137:125	76
5. Linz	46	146:116	75
6. Villach	46	155:136	74
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Bolzano's NHL great: He dropped out of college and then made a career

In the final series between HC Bozen and Red Bull Salzburg, he is the player who has by far the most NHL appearances under his belt. The fact that HCB crack Matt Frattin made it to the best league in the world is anything but a given, as his career hung by a thread at a young age.

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