First-year Ethan Cordeiro has 15 points for the Rams through 16 games. PHOTO CREDIT: eliteprospects.com
University of Rhode Island Men’s Ice Hockey first-year Ethan Cordeiro has been off to an impressive start to his first season in Kingston, tying with fourth-year teammates Mike Costello and Dylan Weichselbaumer at 15 points through 16 games.
The Rhode Island native grew up in Cranston and has been playing hockey since the day he’s been able to put on a pair of skates.
“I have two older brothers, they’ve been playing forever, I kinda followed right in their footsteps,” Cordeiro said. “As long as I can remember I’ve been playing, dad played hockey, his brothers, it’s a hockey family, for my whole life basically I’ve been on the ice.”
Cordeiro played high school hockey at La Salle, located in Providence. While there, he states that he was fortunate enough to play under coach James Mello.
Before becoming the contributor he is now for the Rams, Cordeiro’s decision to come to URI came with some family ties as his father had played for Coach Joe Augustine. That along with getting the chance to play with some of his friends that all had good things to say about the program was ultimately what made Cordeiro a Ram.
“I just love the game and this is my hometown school, my brothers go here, so it’s always in the back of my mind,” Cordeiro said.
The Rams had Cordeiro on their radar before coming to URI for his great hockey IQ at a young age.
“He’s got good hockey sense,” Augustine said. “What’s good about him is he’s very easy to coach, he asks questions, we have discussions on what he should and shouldn’t do. He’s very receptive of what the coaches have to say. He’s got good awareness of the puck and he’s adjusting well.”
Augustine said Cordeiro plays bigger than his actual size. At 5’8, 150 pounds, according to the official team roster, the first-year forward knows how to get under the skin of opposing players and is not afraid to get physical in front of the net, displaying just how gritty of a player he can be, according to Augustine.
“He plays much bigger than he is,” Augustine said. “He gets his goals in a lot of dirty areas, his goals aren’t coming from the outside.”
Some of the older players described Cordeiro as a very confident player despite being such a young player in the college hockey atmosphere.
“He’s very confident in the way he plays, even in the locker room and on the bench, he’s always got something good to say,” fourth-year forward Nick Ferraro said. “He fit right in with the program which most freshmen don’t really do.”
Both the coaches and the team have seen an impressive amount of growth from him already since making the team after tryouts.
“When I first met him trying out he didn’t say much, but now that he’s on the team he’s one of the boys, doesn’t act like he’s a freshman when talking to anybody,” Ferraro said.
Cordeiro’s production so far was unexpected, but the coaches and his fellow teammates are all confident in him and what he can do for the remainder of the season.