By her own admission, Vanessa Vani’s first instinct when she receives the puck is to pass it.
“I feel much more comfortable passing the puck,” grinned the University of Maine senior center and captain. “That’s the first thing that comes to my mind when I have the puck.”
By assisting on all three goals scored by the Bears in 3-2 and 4-1 losses at Clarkson, Vani became the school’s all-time career leader in assists with 57. She also has 32 goals to give her 89 points in 116 career games.
“I’ll never forget it. It’s good my parents [Anthony and Elena Vani] were there to see it. I was really excited about that,” said Vani. “Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect to do anything like this.”
The 5-foot-5 St. Catharines, Ontario, native has been a model of consistency throughout her career.
She was tied for fourth on the team in scoring as a freshman with 11 goals and 13 assists in 31 games. She was the leading scorer as a sophomore (11 & 15 in 31 games) and a junior (6 & 15 in 33 games) and she is the top scorer this season with 4 & 14 in 21 games.
She is three points behind Raffi Wolf for third on the school’s all-time scoring list with her 89 points in 116 games. If she collects 11 points in her final 12 games, Vani will become the school’s third 100-point scorer.
“Her consistency from year to year to year has been key for this program, especially since she’s now played for three different coaches in her career,” said second-year coach Dan Lichterman. “You know she’s going to bring her best every day. We haven’t had the greatest teams but she’s put up points consistently and been a hard worker every day.”
He said her assists record is a “big accomplishment” and pointed out that she didn’t realize she was closing in on the record.
“Years later, she’ll realize how big it is. But when you’re in it, she just thinks she’s going out and doing her job,” added Lichterman.
“It’s cool and everything but it doesn’t mean the whole world to me,” said Vani. “Being able to play hockey every day and having that excitement every time I step on the ice is [more] important.”
Maine has gone 35-70-13 in Vani’s career including an 18-61-7 mark her last three seasons.
But she insists she has no regrets about her decision to come to Maine, a choice she made after visiting the campus and “falling in love with it.
“I wouldn’t choose a different path. I’ve loved my experience here. I’ll be taking away many memories and I learned a lot of things. I can’t say anything bad about the program,” said Vani who considers her parents and former Maine coach Guy Perron to be major influences in her career.
“My parents kept pushing me. And Guy worked us hard but we respected him a lot,” said Vani.
Assistant coach Karine Senecal, a former teammate of Vani’s at Maine, said Vani has been one of the program’s most skilled forwards ever since she’s been here.
“She’s fast and she’s a well-rounded player. She has been a big plus for our team,” said Senecal.
Senior goalie Genevieve Turgeon said in addition to her consistent play, Vani has been a “good leader.”
Linemate Jennie Gallo said Vani has been a “great inspiration to all of us. She’s our captain and she shows [her leadership] on and off the ice.”
The sophomore left winger also called her a “great linemate.
“She’s always got my back [covered] and we all work well together. She likes to pass and she always sets us up. It’s good having someone like that on a line with you. I think we’re going to do well the rest of the year,” said Gallo, the team’s leading goal scorer with eight..
Freshman Myriam Crousette is the right winger on the line.
Although the Black Bears enters a Saturday-Sunday series against visiting Boston University with a 4-15-2 record, 1-7-1 in Hockey East, Vani is optimistic about the final stretch.
“We just need to get that one win to put us over the hump. We have to keep grinding every day and win through hard work. We need to get our spirits up with a big win to give us a chance [to make the six-team Hockey East playoffs]. There’s no doubt in my mind we can do it.”
After concluding her career, the communications sciences and disorders major hopes to go to graduate school and become a “doctor of audiology.”
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