Sixteen months ago, North Dakota forward and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect, Matt Frattin found himself working in the morning at his father's Italian bakery and pouring concrete during the day.
He had been kicked off the Fighting Sioux hockey team and had his scholarship to the University of North Dakota revoked after being arrested twice over the summer while training in Grand Forks.
Today, Frattin is back on the team, leading the country with 36 goals scored, was named WCHA Player of the Year and will travel with his teammates to the Frozen Four in St Paul next week hoping to come home with two trophies - the National Championship and the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, given to the best collegiate hockey player in the country.
Growing up in Edmonton, Frattin wanted to be just like his older brother on the backyard rink and hense has been on skates ever since he can remember. Hockey was something he did with his friends and just happened to be pretty good at.
Undrafted by the WHL, at 18, he joined the Fort Saskatchewan Traders of the AJHL and lead the team with 94 points in 73 games. That sparked the interest of college coaches and professional scouts. The Maple Leafs selected him the following summer in the fourth round of the NHL Entry Draft and the University of North Dakota offered him a scholarship to play for the Fighting Sioux.
"I think the biggest thing for me was to get a degree and go to college while playing hockey," Frattin explained. "I went down a couple times and felt that North Dakota was a right fit for me. It was a hockey town, a hockey school. There were a lot of other schools around that play hockey but there were other sports at the schools like basketball, but I wanted to go to a hockey first school and it doesn’t get much better than North Dakota. It was the best place for me to develop my game."
The problem was, he wasn't really thinking about his game once he got to Grand Forks.
"I think it was just my priorities," he said. "I was just taking school for granted, and I got a little side-tracked. I was just enjoying life as a college student and partying a lot and not living up to what it means to be a Fighting Sioux hockey player."
He was arrested once for disorderly conduct after throwing his furniture into the street in the middle of the night - a charge he plead guilty to - and soon after was arrested for driving under the influence - a charge he was later acquitted of - but head coach Dave Hakstol had seen enough.
"It was obviously a down time for me," said Frattin. "You never really want to face that path where your getting kicked out of school or you’re getting suspended or your scholarship is being taken away. It was obviously something you don’t want to hear, but I got arrested twice in one month…I kind of expected something to happen. I guess it was a wake up call and an experience that I needed and kind of just took it all in and kept moving forward."
Although Hakstol revoked Frattin's scholarship and dismissed him from the team, he also told him what he needed to do if he wanted to play for the Sioux again. While most people expected him to immediately sign with the Maple Leafs and head to the AHL, Frattin decided not to take the easy route.
"I didn’t want to leave North Dakota with the reputation I was leaving with," he explained. "I just felt like I had some unfinished business there. I wanted to prove that I could be a better person."
So, he went back to Edmonton, went to work at the bakery in the morning, poured concrete in the afternoon, worked out at night with an AJHL team and realized that this is not the path he wanted to go down. He started taking a closer look at all aspects of his life and even stopped drinking and started going to counseling to help get himself back on track.
He kept in contact with some of his teammates and spoke with Hakstol on a weekly basis with the hope that he'd be able to join the team again the following fall. Then, he saw all of his hard work start to pay off.
"One time in early December, we were talking and he said he was impressed and really liked how I was handling things the past three months," Frattin explained. "He said that he talked to some older guys on the team and the coaching staff and said 'On behalf of the coaching staff we’d like to give you another chance to play for the Sioux in January' and I didn’t even have to think twice. I said, 'Absolutely! I will be there.'
He immediately ramped up his training so he could be in the best shape possible for his return to Grand Forks and make the most of his second chance.
"As a freshman, you’re not coming in and playing on the top two lines or being in the first power play unit," Frattin explained. "It’s a program where you got to put in your time and improve your all around game and your defensive game, not just come in as an offensive threat. The two people that have come in and done that since I’ve been here are TJ Oshie and Jonathan Toews - those are pretty high profile players - so you just got to put in the time and when you get the opportunity you have to make the best of it and try and run with it.
"I didn't do that the first time around, but now, I look at the game of hockey to be a job for myself and to become a professional," he continued. "You have to show people what you want to do for the rest of your life by your actions."
Over the past 16 months, his actions have spoken loud and clear.
He took out a loan to pay for his tuition for the second semester, as his scholarship had not yet been reinstated, and had to earn his ice time. It took him a few games to get the offense going, but once he started, he hasn't stopped, scoring 47 goals and 75 points in his last 57 games.
With his physical style of play that also combines speed and skill, Frattin has earned 36 goals and 60 points in his 43 games this season, ranking first in the country in goals and second in points putting him in contention to win the Hobey Baker. It is an award given to the best collegiate hockey player each year defined as the player showing the most character, all-around skill and contribution to his team and it will be awarded on Friday, April 8th in St. Paul, MN during the Frozen Four.
While he would be "honored" to win the award, he's already done everything he can to earn it as the committee voted last week, but for now, he's maintaining his focus on winning something that he sees as an even bigger prize - winning the National Championship with his teammates.
They've already won the McNaughton Cup, as winners of the WCHA regular season, and the Broadmoor Trophy, as winners of the WCHA Final Five, and breezed through RPI and Denver in the Midwest Regional by a combined score of 12-1 to advance to the Frozen Four. The Fighting Sioux are obviously a favorite to win the title, but no matter what happens in St Paul this coming week, Matt Frattin will leave the University of North Dakota with a degree in Recreation and Tourism, the opportunity to play professional hockey with the Toronto Maple Leafs and, most of all, respect.
He's earned it.
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Just to show you a bit more of his personality as he is a bit of a clown/prankster...
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