If things were a little different, Mario Ferraro, Cale Makar and John Leonard would all be in their senior seasons with the UMass-Amherst hockey team right now, gearing up for a pair of games with nearby UMass-Lowell this weekend.
Instead, the three players Tuesday will all be on the ice together — 1,900 miles away in Denver — when the Sharks face the Colorado Avalanche in the first of a two-game series between the teams at Ball Arena.
Less than four years after they all became teammates as part of a standout freshman class under Minutemen coach Greg Carvel, Ferraro, Makar and Leonard, all 22, are living out their dreams as NHL players.
Makar is one of the NHL’s outstanding young defenseman and is thought of as a future Norris Trophy winner. The ever-energetic Ferraro is now paired with Erik Karlsson inside the Sharks’ top four defense group. Leonard, one of three rookies on the Sharks’ roster, turned pro in 2020 and made the NHL roster after an impressive training camp.
“We all had the same goal to play in the National Hockey League and the opportunity to be on the same ice surface is pretty special,” Ferraro said, “and something that we should really appreciate and take a moment to just be thankful for the opportunities and how we ended up here.”
“They should all be seniors this year yet they will all be playing on the same sheet of ice thousands of miles away from Amherst,” Carvel said in an email to this newspaper. “No doubt that this game will be viewed closely tonight by all the teammates, staff and fans that were touched by these three outstanding young men. “
Ferraro, Makar and Leonard all helped to quickly turn the Minutemen program around. Makar and Ferraro were paired together as freshmen in the 2017-18 season and combined for 44 points. Leonard, the hometown kid, led the team in scoring with 13 goals and 28 points.
UMass went from a record of 5-29-2 overall in 2016-17, which included a 17-game losing streak to end the year, to 17-20-2 the following season.
The next season, though, was when everything came together.
UMass won the Hockey East regular season title and advanced to their first-ever NCAA national championship game in Buffalo before they lost 3-0 to Minnesota Duluth. They finished with a 31-10-0 record, including a 18-1-0 mark at home.
“All three of these kids looked at it as a great challenge to pull UMass Hockey out of obscurity to a place of recognition,” Carvel wrote. “By the end of their sophomore year we were playing in the National Championship game and it was on the shoulders of these three kids. They are all extremely talented but beyond that they were all tremendous teammates.
“None of them took shortcuts, they showed up every day and worked hard and at the same time were a ton of fun to be around.”
Makar had 49 points that season and won the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s top player. After the NCAA title game, he was off to Denver to join the Avalanche for their playoff run, which included a second round date with the Sharks.
Ferraro signed an entry level deal with the Sharks in April 2019 and made the team out of camp in the fall without having to spend any time in the AHL. Leonard stayed for his junior season and led the NCAA with 27 goals in 33 games. Less than four weeks after the Minutemen’s season ended, Leonard, a sixth round pick by San Jose in 2018, agreed to turn pro and join the Sharks.
“(Being) together as a group for two years at UMass and the stuff we did to build that program up or take it from a place where they didn’t get much recognition or respect around the league,” Ferraro said. “After we left, I believe that we kind of brought more respect to the program.”
Makar and Ferraro certainly will not be playing in the AHL. While Leonard is not necessarily guaranteed a spot in the NHL the rest of the season, he hasn’t had to be a healthy scratch yet.
In other words, it’s pretty impressive that three players who were all part of same recruiting class are now in the NHL without so far having to spend a day in the minors.
Matt Nieto played at Boston University from 2010 to 2013 with future NHL players Charlie Coyle, Alex Chiasson and Adam Clendening. All of them had to spend at least some time in the AHL before they were called up.
“It’s hard. The game is so much different,” between college and the NHL, Nieto said. “The time and space, you don’t you don’t have a lot of it like you do in college. All three of those guys are really good players and have a really good hockey IQ.
“I think that’s what allows them to read the play at this sort of pace, at this level. All three are great players and that’s something special that they’re able to just step in and contribute the way that they have.”
Carvel said, “UMass Hockey is better for having them, but they are also better for having been part of UMass Hockey. And that is how it is supposed to be.”
