Tom Serratore is an old-fashioned hockey player, the kind who is unlikely to get a sniff from the NHL but fits in perfectly in coach Don Lucia's plan to help make the University of Minnesota men's hockey team a national contender.
Serratore, the son of a vagabond hockey coach, was born in Omaha, Neb., and has lived in Manitoba, Colorado Springs, Colo., St. Paul and several other locales. He produced exactly five goals in his first two seasons with the Gophers, playing in just 65 of the team's 79 games.
But a work ethic inherited from his dad, Air Force Academy coach Frank Serratore, has boosted a stronger, faster Serratore into a key role for the Gophers this season.
"We felt Tommy was an ingredient our program didn't have," Lucia said. "He's older, he's a soldier, he's a coach's kid, he wants to be a part of winning. He gets it. He's a team-first guy. He's an A-plus."
More and more, Lucia is recruiting not only top-tier NHL prospects but grinders who are likely to stick around and play four seasons.
They get better every year.
They block shots and they issue body checks.
Lucia calls Serratore the best hitter on the team, which worked to the Gophers' advantage last weekend when the 6-foot, 180-pounder crunched Hudson Fasching of the United States Under-18 team in a 2-2 tie, then creamed Carl Larsson of Canisius behind the Minnesota net in the Gophers' 1-0 victory two days later.
"We just did our video, and we highlighted him for the hit of the
game," Lucia said. "That's how Tommy plays."
The hit on Fasching caught everybody's eye because Fasching, who's from Apple Valley, is a 6-foot-2, 214-pound winger who has given an oral commitment to play at Minnesota next year.
Fasching left the game after the second-period hit and did not return.
Part of the game, Lucia said.
Serratore wasn't looking for anyone in particular, he said after the game, and he also wasn't about to avoid anyone, even if it might be a future teammate.
"I try to get the boys into it -- or the crowd -- with a big hit," he said. "I was able to find a few guys the last couple nights, so that was good."
Serratore, a nephew of Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore, spent extra time in the weight room over the summer and came into his junior season feeling better. There was no weight gain, he says, just muscle gain.
It shows on the ice.
"His game has really improved. He's much more confident with the puck," Lucia said. "His hockey IQ has improved, and he's doing a good job killing penalties. He's going to be one of our top penalty killers."
The Gophers likely will need some of that when they play Minnesota State Mankato in a home-and-home series Friday, Nov. 2, and Saturday.
Although Serratore has lived around North America as his father has coached teams ranging from the U.S. Hockey League to the old St. Paul-based Minnesota Moose and later the Manitoba Moose, he considers himself a Minnesotan because his dad is from Coleraine, Minn., and his mom, Carol, is from St. Paul.
He admitted that he might have preferred to play for his dad at Air Force Academy, "but I wasn't smart enough to get in."
He came to Minnesota instead, steadfastly worked his way into the lineup and now has one goal in five games this season plus a goal against the Under-18 team that didn't count because it was an exhibition.
No problem, he said.
"They didn't recruit me to score goals."
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