Penticton, BC: The Penticton Vees are very pleased to announce captain Massimo Rizzo has committed to play NCAA hockey for the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks in the future.
Rizzo, who turns 17 June 13, finished his rookie season in the BCHL posting 13 goals and 26 assists in 50 games during 2017-18. In the playoffs, Rizzo found another gear by scoring four times and assisting on six others in 11 games.
The Burnaby, BC native also skated for Team Canada Black at the World Under-17 Hockey Championships in Fort St. John and Dawson Creek, scoring once with three assists in five games.
Tuesday, May 15, Rizzo was announced as the Vees captain for the 2018-19 season, following in the footsteps of Tyson Jost as the most recent 17-year-old captain of the Vees.
He will also follow in the footsteps of multiple other Vees captains as he joins Brett Hextall, Nick Jones, Troy Stecher and Jost as Vees captains to commit to North Dakota during Fred Harbinson’s tenure in Penticton.
“I’m incredibly excited to be able to continue my hockey and educational future with such a prestigious program,” Rizzo said. “North Dakota has a history of not only developing top-tier players, but also icing a championship-calibre program each and every season.”
When Rizzo joins the Fighting Hawks, he’ll be skating alongside three other teammates from the 2017-18 season as Jonny Tychonick, Adam Scheel and Jackson Keane graduated to the NCAA ranks from the 2017-18 Vees.
