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05/25/2017 12:00 AMNick Costanzo recorded three assists when North Haven boys’ hockey won the Division II state championship in 2004. Thirteen years later, Nick is looking to assist the Indians in a different way as they try and climb their way back to the top of the Division II mountain. Nick, a 2007 graduate, was recently named the new head coach of the North Haven boys’ ice hockey squad.
Nick was a freshman forward on the Indians’ state title team, after which he served as an assistant captain in his junior year and a senior captain the following season. Nick has had a few coaching jobs since then, including one year as an assistant with the Indians and the last two seasons as a volunteer assistant for the men’s team at Yale University. He was also the head coach for the Mid-Fairfield Stars Tier 1 U-14 girls’ squad that reached the national quarterfinals.
A few weeks ago, Nick saw that North Haven was looking for a new head coach, and he simply couldn’t pass up the chance to become the main man behind the bench at his alma mater.
“To go to school here, win a championship here, and work in town, it’s full circle for me, personally. Not too many people have the opportunity to do that,” says Nick, who lives in North Haven and works as a police officer in town. “This opportunity came along and I knew I had to take a chance and I got it. To have actually received it, I look forward to making a good impact here and a positive experience for the guys.”
Nick expresses great gratitude to the hiring committee for selecting him. The season doesn’t start for several months, but Nick’s been thinking long and hard about how he wants to shape his program, and has Saturday, Dec. 2 circled on his calendar.
“I definitely feel thankful that the committee elected to choose me. Personally, I can’t wait to get ready for Dec. 2 for the first day of practice,” Nick says. “Our first parent meeting is coming up in a couple weeks and I look forward to letting people know my expectations and what we expect from the players. Overall, we’re ready to go for Dec. 2. I’m very excited myself, and my staff, as well.”
North Haven has missed the playoffs the last two seasons and so one of Nick’s goals is for the Indians to become regular contenders in the conference and state ranks. Nick says he wants North Haven to be “a good, hard-working team that respects the game and stays true to our game-plan no matter what the score is.” Nick plans to refine that game-plan based on personnel, but ideally, he’s looking for the Indians to feature an up-tempo style.
Of course, hockey squads have to do more than run and gun in order to see success. Nick knows that the teams that grind it out and play with grit are often the ones hoisting the trophy.
“We want to have a team that isn’t afraid to get in the lanes and block shots, a team that isn’t afraid to take the body when they have to within reason, a team that plays smart defense...Overall, a team that isn’t afraid to do the little things,” he says. “Like they say, a good offense is a good defense. Everything starts in the back end out. We have competitive goalies who will be battling from day one, and we should be a good team starting from the defense out. We have a lot of talent here, and, with having all that talent, we will have very competitive practices with everyone battling for their positions.”
Nick is also a big believer that the ways in which hockey players conduct themselves during their everyday lives play a huge part in how they perform when the puck drops. Nick wants discipline and accountability to be hallmarks of his program.
“We want our kids to be good character kids and do the right thing when no one is looking. All those little things carry on to the ice,” says Nick. “Guys that score big goals are kids that do the right things on and off the ice—not just the classroom, not just the ice, but do the right thing when no one is looking. Put in the extra work and just be a good person. None of those things should be foreign to anyone in our program. If there are good kids that do the right thing the right way...we will be alright.”
Nick will be joined by two new assistant coaches in Kyle Heins and Rick Longobardi. Heins has known Nick for years; he played against him as a member of the North Branford Thunderbirds, and the two also coached the Mid-Fairfield Stars together. Heins says that Nick’s coaching savvy is complemented by a knack for saying the right thing at the right time.
“He is going to bring a culture that understands what it takes to win hockey games, and he is personally one of the best coaches I’ve been around. There have been a lot of times where his coaching ability has allowed our hockey team to win a game. It comes down to players, as well, but coaching is important, and his commitment to Xs and Os—he is very knowledgeable of adjustments that need to be made throughout a game,” says Heins. “He understands the line. He knows when to kick it up a notch intensity wise and when to just have a conversation...He just really gets the best ability of his players and he does that through his ability of understanding of when to kick it up a notch.”
As Nick gears up for his first season, one of the biggest things he’s focusing on is for North Haven to develop a distinct personality on the ice. Nick wants people to walk out of Northford Ice Pavilion talking about how they just saw the Indians give their all for a full 45 minutes.
“They are going to say the North Haven hockey team is a well-organized, well-structured team that has a clear identity, as well as a clear game-plan that the guys play to a T,” says Nick, who thanks his wife Kate. “That identity will be a hard-working hockey team that plays team-first with no unselfish plays and makes the right plays when they’re supposed to.”