Coming from a family that featured two products of the famed St. Anthony High School basketball program, namely his father Lenny and uncle Ziggy, Bryan Haczyk seemed destined to become a basketball player as well.
Well, not quite.
“I never played basketball at all,” said Haczyk, who was born in Jersey City until later moving to Nutley. “My father and uncle are tall, but I wasn’t blessed with their size. I knew my father was a pretty good player [going from St. Anthony to the now-defunct Upsala College], but I never played basketball. My brothers and I played some baseball, but I gravitated towards hockey.”
Bryan Haczyk was introduced to the sport of hockey when he was still a toddler living in Jersey City.
“I saw kids playing in Pershing Field and wanted to do the same,” Haczyk said. “So my mother dressed me up and got me on the ice at Pershing Field. I was about 5 years old.”
Haczyk played for the Jersey City Capitals program at Pershing Field and also played for the Bayonne Rangers at an early age. It quickly led to other chances in travel hockey.
“I used to go all over the state to play,” Haczyk said. “My mother [Jeanne] and father really pushed me to play and took me everywhere to play. They were both more than supportive. They knew how much I wanted it.”
Since there were no recreation teams in Nutley when the Haczyk family moved there, Bryan had to find other travel teams to play for, eventually earning a spot with the New Jersey Devils youth program.
Haczyk went on to play at Seton Hall Prep, then spent some time playing junior hockey for the New Jersey Hitmen, then moving on to play for the Green Bay franchise in the United States Hockey League, where he remained for a year and a half.
Haczyk was then recruited by Niagara University to play there.
“They recruited me out of Green Bay,” Haczyk said. “They made me a very good scholarship offer and I didn’t regret it.”
After three years of being a grinder at Niagara, scoring a total of 18 goals over the three seasons, Haczyk exploded during his senior year in 2010-2011, collecting 28 goals and 17 assists.
“I had a great senior year,” said Haczyk, who graduated from Niagara two months ago. “I was never a goal scorer before, but I stepped up and filled the reins of others who had graduated.”
Last summer, Haczyk was given an invite to attend the New Jersey Devils’ rookie camp.
“It was pretty unbelievable,” Haczyk said. “I had no idea that I was going to be invited and when they sent me the invite, it was indescribable.”
Haczyk enjoyed his experience at the Devils’ rookie camp a year ago and the Devils were impressed with what Haczyk did. So much so that they gave him a brief shot to play for the Trenton Devils in the East Coast Hockey League, seeing action in three games. And so much so that when the Devils held their rookie camp again last week at the AmeriHealth Pavilion inside the Prudential Center, Haczyk was once again a part of it.
“It’s pretty incredible,” said Haczyk, who has already signed a minor-league contract with the Devils for the 2011-12 season and will more than likely get a chance to go to the Devils’ training camp in September. “It’s been a great experience, being home in New Jersey. It had been six years since I played in New Jersey regularly. Getting a chance to be at rookie camp last year gave me a lot of confidence and it’s comforting to know that I will have a place to go this season.”
Added Haczyk, “Being a part of last year’s rookie camp helped me this year, because I knew what it was like. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Haczyk will definitely be part of the Albany training camp, the Devils’ top minor league franchise. But there’s a chance he could spend September with the big club before being assigned elsewhere.
“I’ll be ready, wherever I go,” Haczyk said. “I definitely like being out on the ice with the better players.”
Haczyk skated with regular Devil players Nick Palmieri, Mark Fayne, Jacob Josefson, Matt Taormina, Mattias Tedenby and top draft pick Adam Larsson, who signed his contract at the conclusion of the camp.
“It’s there,” Haczyk said. “It’s really close. I kind of taste it now. It’s getting closer and closer.”
And a kid whose roots are in Jersey City is that much closer to becoming the first product of the Devils’ youth hockey program to eventually play for the Devils.
“That would be nothing short of a dream come true,” Haczyk said. “It’s almost a fantasy, almost too unbelievable to be true. But if it happens, you couldn’t write a better story.”
It’s already pretty remarkable, considering that Haczyk grew up just a stone’s throw from the Prudential Center and he was one of only four New Jersey players participating in the camp – and one of those was the owner’s son, Rem Vanderbeek, the son of owner Jeff.
So it’s safe to say that Haczyk is already writing his own incredible story.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.
You can also read his blog at www.jimhaguesports.blogspot.com.