Cristini takes long road to NCAA
Tuesday July 1 2008
By Will Cottingham, Staff Writer
A late start, a reoccurring shoulder injury, and a stint with the Orangeville Crushers which saw four different head coaches are all part of Jonathan Cristini’s unconventional recipe for reaching the NCAA.
Cristini has accepted a partial hockey scholarship from Neumann College, a Division III school in Pennsylvania, and looks to excel there like he did at the end of his Junior A hockey career.
“I would like the people of Orangeville to know that I’m happy with the way my career went,” Cristini says. “I’m indebted to Orangeville, because my year and a half there was a huge part of my success.”
Despite finishing the 2006-07 season strongly with 29 points (13 goals and 16 assists), Cristini left for Oakville the following year.
But that wasn’t a decision the Crushers made, says Dale Hawerchuk, current head coach but team president at the time of Cristini’s departure.
“We never really wanted to let him go,” Hawerchuk says. “But he wanted to play closer to home (Oakville), and that worked out for him.”
Things worked out, but not right away, Cristini says.
The Oakville Blades went on to trade him, mid-season, to the Stouffville Spirit.
“It was the coaching change that I needed,” he says. “Because I had more confidence in my coach, and then I started having more confidence in myself — and I started scoring.”
Cristini netted 17 goals and 35 points in his first 22 games with the Spirit, and that brought the scouts in for a look.
House league
Cristini, who was only a house league player until 13, admits that he is a late bloomer, buts adds it is precisely that label which helped him get to where he is today.
“I just had to work that much harder,” Cristini says. “A lot of people told me a scholarship was impossible for me, so I’m pretty proud of it.
“I always believed that I could do it, and I always worked a little bit harder — or thought I did.”
Hawerchuk agrees.
“He’s got a great attitude for hockey and is a pleasure to be around,” he says. “The only problem was that we had to play against him this year.”
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