Sarah: Why don’t you first talk about where you grew up and where you’re from.
Dominic: I grew up in a small town called Ludlow, Massachusetts. I just worked for my dad pretty much. I went to Cardigan Mountain Prep School in New Hampshire for eighth and ninth grades and then I played hockey for the Junior Coyotes as a sophomore. I went to Cathedral High School in Springfield, Massachusetts. My junior and senior years I went to Avon Old Farms up in Connecticut. Now I am here. That is pretty much all as far as hockey goes. So three different high schools in four years.
Sarah: Wow!
Dominic: Freshman, sophomore, and junior years were all different.
Sarah: Was that hard?
Dominic: No. Well, my brother was already at Avon and I already had some friends that went there, so that was easy. I already played hockey with probably like four or five kids that were at Cathedral. So I already knew kids at both schools before I went.
Sarah: Academically was it hard?
Dominic: Yes, but it’s more work than like public schools but at the same time it is easier just because of the environment that you’re in. Like everyone sits down at the same time and the whole school does a two-hour study hall. If you have a question, you’ve got 60 kids in your dorm that you can go ask. Someone has got to know. Any questions or anything, it makes it a lot easier. And teachers live right in the dorms with you. It is like living at school basically.
Sarah: Can you talk about your family?
Dominic: I have two brothers, Nate and Nick. Nate graduated from Western New England College last May. Right now, actually, he’s in Atlanta looking at a chiropractor school. He is planning on doing that within the next couple of years, but right now he is just working for my dad and taking a few college courses. He is 24. My brother Nick is 21. He is at Merimac College. He plays hockey. They just played UNH in the playoffs and lost. He tore his ACL, I think he did. I haven’t heard from him yet. He had an MRI on Tuesday. I didn’t hear back from what happened, but I think he is going to have to have surgery.
Sarah: Why did you start playing hockey?
Dominic: I grew up on a pond and, you know, my dad gave us all used skates and we just started skating and then one day we asked if we could start playing at a clinic or something or youth hockey, and so we did. We tried out for an A team, not youth hockey, it was a traveling team, me and my older brother Nick. We both made it, which was a shock for us. We thought we would get cut. This was like a premier team where we lived. Then ever since then we just kept pursuing it and getting better.
Sarah: How did you become a Buc?
Dominic: Last February, I believe it was, Nick Krueger came out and watched me play at Avon Old Farms. Then I had only had two scholarships, one to Merimac for a half scholarship and one to UBM. But I wanted to play hockey. I didn’t really want to follow my brother Nick around. They said that if I took another year and played Juniors, it would give me three years and Providence said the same thing. I wanted to go to Providence anyway. So I signed a letter of intent and I broke my wrist last February too. That was another reason why I wasn’t going to college. Just so, you know, get another year and more money.
Sarah: So have you visited Providence?
Dominic: Yeah.
Sarah: It is a really nice school.
Dominic: It is like an hour from my house at the most.
Sarah: Oh, really?
Dominic: Yeah.
Sarah: That will be nice. Why don’t you talk about other future plans, goals, anything else that you want to do. It doesn’t have to be about hockey.
Dominic: Well, I would like to be a civil engineer and work for my dad’s company doing construction. But besides that, I don’t know. As far as I know I am just, you know, going to head to Providence next fall and do the best I can there and try to decide a major. I haven’t decided on one yet. Just work as hard as I can at hockey. Then at the end of the four years there, we’ll see what happens if I’m going to pursue it after or not. And if not, hopefully I’ve got a degree in something good enough to help me in the real world.
Sarah: Do you know anybody on the team?
Dominic: Yes, a few kids. I met Fregoe actually.
Sarah: Did you?
Dominic: I met him when I went on a visit there. It was in late August and there weren’t many kids there, but he was there and we met. He told me I would have fun out here, you know, and he told me to take a few courses now just to transfer. So I am looking forward to it.
Sarah: Yeah. Can you tell me about an embarrassing moment that you’ve had?
Dominic: I don’t get embarrassed, I don’t think.
Sarah: You’ve got to be kidding me. There is nothing you’ve done where you really screwed up or a fun story you can tell me or even something that was a pinnacle for you, a great achievement.
Dominic: I am drawing a blank. Let me see. An embarrassing moment. Well, I once stepped on the ice with my skate guards, and I’m sure you’ve heard that before cause everyone has done that.
Sarah: You know, I don’t know if I have heard that one before. I have seen my friend do it.
Dominic: Back at Avon I stepped on the ice and wiped out. What else? I can’t think of when I’ve been embarrassed lately.
Sarah: Okay, that is all right.
Dominic: Do you have any embarrassing moments?
Sarah: Oh, wait a second! You know, that’s the problem though. It is too hard to think of one just at the spur of the moment.
Dominic: Yeah. I’m sure like I’ll be driving my car later on and like, oh yeah, I remember when that happened. What a jerk I was.
Sarah: Then you can just talk to me later and say, "Hey, I’ve got one for you now."
Dominic: Yeah, go print that up.
Sarah: What are your hobbies?
Dominic: Well, I fish with my dad. He has got a boat in Rhode Island near Misquamicut, and we go to the ocean.
Sarah: That sounds like fun.
Dominic: I like roller blading a lot.
Sarah: Do you play roller hockey?
Dominic: No, I just play in the driveway with my brothers or whoever. I like playing basketball in the summer. Don’t know anything about it. I hate watching it but like to play it.
Sarah: Really? I can understand that.
Dominic: I like mountain biking. I do that occasionally and hiking. I don’t get around to doing those as much as roller blading and fishing and stuff.
Sarah: It depends on where you go.
Dominic: Well, for hiking you can go to New Hampshire. Even in Massachusetts there are a couple places that are only like 20-30 minutes away from my house that you could go. They’re smaller mountains.
Sarah: That was something that was really hard for me. They would tell me, "Oh, those are mountains." It was up near Saratoga Springs in New York. I am used to mountains like in Colorado. I am thinking, "Those aren’t mountains."
Dominic: Those are hills.
Sarah: Everybody is like, "Those are mountains."
Dominic: Yeah, those are tiny. In Vermont when you get to the White Mountain Chain, there are some big mountains.
Sarah: For like skiing and stuff?
Dominic: Yeah. Like if you hike a good sized mountain, you look out and it’s like the White Mountain Chain; you can just see all the mountains.
Sarah: Oh, really?
Dominic: It looks pretty cool.
Sarah: I would love to go up near Vermont.
Dominic: Some day.
Sarah: Okay. What would you like to tell the fans?
Dominic: Keep cheering. They are the best, you know. Everywhere I have gone, I mean, we have always had fans but never a turn out like this. I mean, even when we were losing 7-1, some people would have been out. But for the most past, they are really loyal. They still applaud us when we lose. They are always there to support us. So two thumbs up to them!
Sarah: Okay. Well, thank you very much.
Dominic: Thank you.
