Nikolai Todorov '24 Recruiting Profile

I am a 200' hockey player. I am a defensive forward playing mainly center but often used as a utility player. I play a strong, complete game in all three zones.  I compete hard for the puck and transition well with speed, puck control, and finishing ability.  I am a top penalty killer and excel on the power play.

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NAHL Jr. Prospects Combine evaluation:

• We liked his skating and speed and how he moved up the ice with the puck.
• We thought he did a good job quickly transitioning to offense and had good finishing ability.
• We were impressed with how he was a complete and responsible player that battled hard in all three zones.
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Player evaluation: "200-foot player"

• Versatile two-way competitor
• Hard to play against: smart/fast/physical
• Ability in transition: find holes and speed up to get to spots
• Good at reading plays and killing them quickly defensively
• Great ability to win stick battles to maintain possession
• Thinker - “They are playing chess, not checkers.”

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I look around at my teammates in the locker room and listen to how they have been on the ice since they could walk.  They always knew they wanted to be in the rinks.  However, growing up in rural Pennsylvania on a horse farm with no ice rink in sight, I was dreaming of being a bull rider, professional soccer player, and monster truck driver; all at the same time. 

I may have started later than most on my team, but I won't forget the drive I felt to play hockey when I first discovered the sport.  My cousin would come up to visit and bring an old hockey net and some sticks.  I would play for hours in the driveway and beg my parents to take me to an ice rink.  Being over an hour away from the closest rink, ice hockey didn't seem like a realization to them.  However, being persistent opened the doors to the sport that pumps the blood through my veins today.

• I often think back to Mites hockey where I would watch this player, a year older than I.   I remember being in awe of his skating ability and thinking, wishing, hoping, that someday I could skate and play like him.  He had something I wanted and after only a few years, endless lessons, bruises, and blisters,  I had passed him in skill level.  Your parents always tell you to work hard and you can accomplish anything; it was an amazing reward to witness the results at a young age. 
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• I appreciate that my parents were persistent about me playing multiple sports and not putting all my 'eggs in one basket.  I wanted to try everything, and they quietly stood by my side; from local flag football, Little League baseball, YMCA basketball, travel soccer, club lacrosse, Cub Scouts, guitar lessons, and swimming events to that skateboard and pogo stick I still have today.  I am thankful that my parents gave me the opportunity to find myself; to help me find what makes me truly me.   
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• Academics are important to me as I realize they are part of the key to my future, as well as my athletic ability.  I may not know what my future holds, but I do know that I intend to push my abilities to my full extent to see where they may lead me.  In the past I have come to realize it can be a difficult balance between academics and athletics, but one in which I can accomplish.
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This shy boy from rural Pennsylvania who aspires to play college hockey would like to thank his cousin for bringing that old hockey net the the farmhouse.