Giancarlo Nadeau
Anthony Domagola first started playing hockey when he was eight years old. He grew up in Syracuse, New York, and played some baseball, but that sport never fully satisfied him. “I don’t know what it was, but I sort of got a call for hockey, and it took off from there, but I haven’t looked back since,” he said.
The excitement and speed of the game are two things missing in baseball that were easy for Domagola to find in hockey. “We had a team in the American hockey league when I was growing up in Syracuse that I used to watch as a little kid,” he explained. He became a Sabres fan soon after moving to Buffalo.
Although he found the sport of hockey, he was still looking for something from it – an experience. “I wanted to come play out of Western Canada and experience the way of life out here, even outside of hockey,” he claimed. Domagola found a place to play and a community with which he fell in love.
Domagola was more than a seven-hour flight away from his family this season, but he always had them in his mind. “The sacrifices that they made along the way to put me into a position to get to where I am now is something that I’m very grateful for,” he said.
The right-shot forward scored a goal in his first PJHL game – an inaugural 5-4 victory against the Abbotsford Pilots on September 6. He feels his overall hockey sense has improved since that night. “Adjusting to the speed of the game and trying to take the strengths and weaknesses that I have as a player and carry them into this league to make myself as valuable as possible,” Domagola said.
Fast forward to the last home game, and you will have his favourite memory from the season. “It was a very special evening. It was probably one of the most fun hockey games that I’ve played in my life. I will remember and cherish the community support and send-off for a very long time,” he explained.
He believes that his leadership qualities shone through the most on the ice and in the locker room, especially with the younger players on the team. “Trying to mentor them through the experience that I’ve had and trying to impact them as they are adjusting to being at the junior level. I was very grateful to have the support of other guys when I first started. I think the biggest thing I tried to emphasize this year was to give those younger guys a safe space, even if I was just someone, they wanted to talk to about something or trying to pick guys’ heads up when things weren’t going our way,” he said.
Domagola continued by saying, “I try to do every single thing that I can to support every one of my teammates. Especially the younger guys – I remember what it was like being in their shoes a couple of years prior.”
Domagola took a liking to being in the broadcast dock whenever he was out of the lineup.” It’s something that I had kind of thought about as a kid. It was something that always interested me. I’ve enjoyed it throughout the entire year. It’s something I want to pursue,” he admitted.
The biggest thing he tried to emphasize this year was staying positive. “I want people to remember even the small conversations I had with them at the rink and around town at a grocery store. If there were one thing I wanted to leave here when I walked off the coast, it would hopefully be the positive impact I would have had in the community,” he said.
Domagola finished his PJHL career with two goals and an assist for three points in 30 games.
