Antonia Bucatini: The Rookie Experience

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Bucatini Prepares for First VHL Season

 

Davos, Switzerland -- Antonia Bucatini has hopped around during her professional hockey career. First, it was being drafted to the VHLM’s Halifax 21^st. Then, midseason, she switched countries from Canada to the U.S. after she was traded to the Houston Bulls. The next year, she went back to Europe once more, landing in Scandinavia with the eventual champion Oslo Storm of the VHLE. Three countries, two continents, two seasons.

 

Coming into this year, Bucatini is moving once again. But this time, it’s different: This is likely to be her permanent home. As befitting the number one pick of the S93 Draft, Bucatini is set to make her debut for HC Davos Dynamo this season, and she’s beginning to settle into her Switzerland home.

 

“It’s nice, I like it here,” Bucatini told the Swiss press following a training camp practice. “It’s not my first time in Switzerland, you know, I’d visited before. But house hunting, meeting the neighbors, settling into a routine with practice and everything else – it’s a lot different feeling this time.”

 

Plus, there’s the weight of expectations. Davos is still emerging out of a rebuild, one that saw an additional three rookies join the prospect pool this past draft. But even so, there remain high expectations for Bucatini this upcoming season. She figures to slot into the team’s first line alongside touted veterans Grimgor Ironhide and Sadie St. Louis, both of whom have extensive VHL – and winning – experience.

 

Bucatini knows she will be counted on to hold her own from the drop of the first puck. But rather than shying away from the challenge, she says she actively embraces what’s coming ahead.

 

“I know it’s not easy to be a rookie. But even so, I think I have an opportunity to do something special here,” she added. “We have some winners here – hell, that even includes me coming up from Oslo, I suppose. Maybe we’ll be able to shock a few people this season.”

 

Could that shock include a Rookie of the Year run? It’s possible, given how much practice Bucatini has undertaken coming into the season. Still, it’s not something that she says is a priority.

 

“I told the coaching staff that I’m more focused on Grimgor and Sadie’s stats than my own, and I truly meant it,” she explained. “If they’re happy, I’m happy. I really think that’s how we’re going to grow not only this season, but into the future.”

 

Time will tell how well those proclamations play out. But for now, Bucatini is still adjusting. There’s a preseason ahead, followed by the first games against tougher competition than she has ever faced before. For better or worse, the attention will certainly be on the first player to be drafted first in all three of the VHLM, VHLE, and VHL.

 

“Sure, there are expectations, but I’m not afraid of that,” Bucatini said with a grin. “You’ve seen what I do with expectations before. And if I’m going to be great – and trust me, that’s the plan – it means people have to see greatness in you. Let’s see how well that plays out.”