Nate Hnatishion '25 Recruiting Profile

Early in my hockey career I knew that hockey was my sport. My parents tell me it’s because when I was one year old, they took me to a minor league game, and I stared at the ice for the entire game without moving – they thought there was something wrong with me! I think it’s because I love the intensity, physicality, and the speed of the game. At age 6, I started playing elementary school hockey after the Learn to Play program. In my first year of Squirt, I made the AA travel team of a local club. I decided to try out for a Tier 1 team the following year and was excited when I made the team.  I was nervous for the try outs because I only played one year of travel hockey and didn’t know anyone on the team.  During that first year of Tier 1, I was lucky to have a great coach who encouraged me to change from offense to defense, and that’s when I feel like my game really changed. I’ve been playing Tier 1 ever since then. 

Many of tournaments I play in tend to be around big colleges and prep schools. I find that when I visit them, it gives me the extra drive to work to get there. When I am on the ice, in the gym, or even in class I’ve learned how to make obstacles into opportunities. Whenever I am doing something challenging, I’ve learned just to make the best of it and go all out. When I play in some tournaments throughout the year with players and coaches that I’ve never met before the warmup, I must figure out how to work with each one of them to win.  This is one of many things that my hockey career has taught me. Another skill I have learned is great time management. My Mom has stressed this skill since elementary school since I always need to work around practice and road trips. I like to be organized and prepared as well. I’ve started my high school academic career with excellent grades and I plan to continue that. Grades are just as important to me as hockey because I want to play competitive hockey at a strong academic school.