• HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • North Division
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • East Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • Dallas Stars
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Nashville Predators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • West Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • Minnesota Wild
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • NHL Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • Archives
  • Podcast Network
  • More…
    • CHL
      • Ontario Hockey League
      • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
      • Western Hockey League
    • Columns
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • Site Index
  • NHL Salary Caps
  • Hockey 101: A Beginner’s Guide
  • Join Our Team
  • Free Newsletter
  • Store
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • North Division
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • East Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • Dallas Stars
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Nashville Predators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • West Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • Minnesota Wild
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • NHL Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • Archives
  • Podcast Network
  • More…
    • CHL
      • Ontario Hockey League
      • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
      • Western Hockey League
    • Columns
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
Home
College Hockey
NCHC

UND Hockey: Drake Caggiula’s Roller Coaster Ride

By Eric Burton November 11th, 2013

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp
Drake Caggiula, Eric Classen, UND Sports

Drake Caggiula, Eric Classen, UND Sports

It may be early, but he’s been a ray of sunshine in an otherwise subpar season so far for the University of North Dakota hockey team. Sophomore forward Drake Caggiula hails from Pickering, Ontario and he came to the University of North via the Stouffville Spirit of the Ontario Junior Hockey League where he scored (10g-24a—34pts) in 25 games.

As a freshman, he put up a respectable (8g-8a—16pts) in 39 games. This season, he’s second in points (3g-2a—5pts) on a team that is offensively challenged. While his numbers aren’t eye popping, his effort on the ice has been noticeable.

On October 26, 2013, during a game against the U-18 team, UND sophomore forward Drake Caggiula tried to jump over a U-18 player, and the sophomore forward fell and landed awkwardly on his upper body.  Caggiula was taken off of the ice on a stretcher and transported to Altru Hospital. At first, it didn’t look good and it appeared that the talented forward might be seriously injured and might miss some time.

During the week, word emerged that Caggiula was making a miraculous recovery and that there was a good chance that he would play against the Saint Cloud State Huskies. And play he did. Cuggiula would take the ice against the SCSU Huskies a little less than a week after being carried off the ice on a stretcher.

First game back

In his first shift back on the ice, Caggiula made his presence known by throwing a thunderous hit against a Husky player. That hit would fire up his teammates for the time being.

“That was good to get out of the way,’’ Caggiula said of his first big hit. “That’s part of my game. Just because I was hurt last weekend doesn’t mean I’m going to change the way I play.”

In his first game back from the injury, Caggiula scored an amazing, eye popping, highlight-reel goal at 3:10 of the first period. That goal was the play of the day on Fox Sports 1 and become the goal of the week in the NCHC. That goal wasn’t enough, UND would blow a one goal third period lead and lose the game 3-2.

After the game against the SCSU Huskies, Caggiula had this to say about his speedy recovery and week of practice leading up to the weekend series.

“Missed the first day of practice this week,” Caggiula said. “ I really told trainers that I want to go aggressive with the rehab. To get me back out there in the best condition that I could be in, I felt pretty good being out there.  It’s pretty exciting; I was pretty scared last week. It was just a good feeling, to get out on the ice.”

While the fans tend to focus on the highlight-reel goals, head coach Dave Hakstol is more concerned about the other parts of Caggiula’s game.

“I think everybody notices when you score a highlight-reel goal like he has once or twice this year,” Hakstol said. “But I pay more attention to other parts of his game. He’s probably, in terms of our forwards, the guy who has been the most difficult to play against. He’s been the hardest guy up front. He’s done all the little things the right way.”

“I feel like our consistency level of compete on Friday and Saturday nights hasn’t been good enough. I think he’s one guy who has held a highly competitive, consistent level of play. That’s the biggest part of maturity he’s showing that’s most important to our team.”

Personal accomplishments are secondary for Drake Caggiula and he’s more interested in team goals, wins and losses, than he is about getting highlight goals put up on Fox Sports 1.

“Obviously, the outcome of the game was what was on my mind,” Caggiula said. “But it was pretty good to have all of the fans supporting me and tweeting at me and trying to get my goal up on Fox Sports 1. That was pretty cool, that it (the goal) was one, on that night. I was a pretty cool accomplishment for myself. But obviously, the outcome of the game was what was on my mind throughout that night.”

Emotional roller coaster ride for Caggiula

Drake Caggiula was asked to explain his roller coaster week and this is what he had to say about it.

“The USA accident was one of the scarier moments of my life,” Caggiula said. “I didn’t know what to expect really. I didn’t know if was going to back the weekend after, or if I would be out for months at a time. I had no idea.”

“On Monday, I felt ten times better than I did on Sunday. I told Pooly (Mark Poolman) that I really on to work on rehab and be as aggressive as I could, to get back in the lineup as fast as I could, and be as healthy as I could. It was pretty emotional, had a lot of people ask me a bunch of questions about it. I am just fortunate to have a quick recovery, played pretty well and Fox Sports 1 was just a little bit of a bonus there. It was emotional both good and bad I guess”

Drake Caggiula is a special player; he’s quickly becoming one of the better players in college hockey. Now if he can get the other players on his team to follow his lead and emulate his play on the ice, things will begin to fall into place for the UND hockey team.

Enhanced by Zemanta
  • Tags
  • Dave Hakstol
  • Drake Caggiula
  • NCHC
  • University of North Dakota
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

Get theScore App Now!
Recent Posts
Jan 19th 4:45 PM
Hockey History

Top 3 Penguins Trades Under Jim Rutherford

Jan 19th 3:45 PM
St Louis Blues

Blues Weekly: Up and Down Start to the 2020-21 Campaign

Jan 19th 3:35 PM
Carolina Hurricanes

Hurricanes’ Goalie Prospects Are a Mixed Bag

Jan 19th 3:05 PM
Vegas Golden Knights

Prospects News & Rumors: Hughes, Powell & Dorofeyev

Jan 19th 2:55 PM
Edmonton Oilers

Oilers Goaltending Issues Rest Squarely on Holland’s Shoulders

Jan 19th 1:20 PM
Boston Bruins

Bruins Rookie Spotlight: Jakub Zboril

Jan 19th 1:10 PM
Colorado Avalanche

Avalanche Defense Boosted by Returns of Johnson & Byram

Jan 19th 1:00 PM
Colorado Avalanche

NHL Rumors: Senators, Canucks, Avalanche, Oilers, More

Jan 19th 11:24 AM
Archives

They Wore It Once: Bruins Players and Their Unique Numbers

Jan 19th 11:14 AM
Archives

Top-5 Players From France in NHL History

Editor’s Picks
World Junior Championship All-Time Leading Scorers

World Junior Championship All-Time Leading Scorers

2021 Guide To the World Junior Championship

2021 Guide To the World Junior Championship

Masthead

Newsletters

RSS Feeds

Privacy Statement

Contact Us

About THW…

Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey. Updated daily with news and features from over 130 writers worldwide. Over 2 million monthly readers now come to THW for their hockey fix.

© The Hockey Writers 2020. All rights reserved.
logo
  • HOME
  • Hockey Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • North Division
    • Calgary Flames
    • Edmonton Oilers
    • Montreal Canadiens
    • Ottawa Senators
    • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Vancouver Canucks
    • Winnipeg Jets
  • East Division
    • Boston Bruins
    • Buffalo Sabres
    • New Jersey Devils
    • New York Islanders
    • New York Rangers
    • Philadelphia Flyers
    • Pittsburgh Penguins
    • Washington Capitals
  • Central Division
    • Carolina Hurricanes
    • Chicago Blackhawks
    • Columbus Blue Jackets
    • Dallas Stars
    • Detroit Red Wings
    • Florida Panthers
    • Nashville Predators
    • Tampa Bay Lightning
  • West Division
    • Anaheim Ducks
    • Arizona Coyotes
    • Colorado Avalanche
    • Los Angeles Kings
    • Minnesota Wild
    • San Jose Sharks
    • Seattle Kraken
    • St Louis Blues
    • Vegas Golden Knights
  • World Juniors
  • CHL
    • Ontario Hockey League
    • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
    • Western Hockey League
  • THW Podcast Network
  • Store
  • FREE Newsletter
  • Search THW
  • More…
    • Join Our Team
    • The THW Archives
    • Prospects
    • The Goalie Page
    • NHL Salary Cap Information