My story from the Amherst Bee, published Jan. 4, 2012.
From house league hockey to the pros.
Two Amherst natives are one step away from making their dreams by playing in the National Hockey League. Phil DeSimone of the Hamilton Bulldogs and David Leggio of the Rochester Americans are both playing in the American Hockey League this year.
DeSimone is in his first professional season and plays center for Hamilton. He is a recent graduate of the University of New Hampshire where he played hockey all four years. Before college, DeSimone played three years for the Sioux City Musketeers in the United States Hockey League. In 2007, he was USHL Player of the Year.
DeSimone was drafted in the third round, 84th overall by the Washington Capitals in the 2007 NHL entry draft. Although the Capitals did not resign him, it was not long until DeSimone found a new home. During the summer he signed a contract with Hamilton, the Montreal Canadiens’ AHL affiliate. Through 32 games, DeSimone has six goals and 14 points, good for fourth best on the team.
It was a big transition for him after starting out in the Amherst house league at age five, and playing for an Amherst travel team at age eight. He attended the Nichols School where he played on the prep team his freshman and sophomore years. He split his junior year in Thorold, Ontario and at Williamsville South High School. His senior year was spent in Sioux City.
The biggest surprise for DeSimone this year is his hot start. He is outscoring many veterans and is also playing on the team’s first power-play unit.
“They assigned me to Hamilton and I’ve started out pretty well. I don’t think people had very high expectations for me here. I got a tryout and I think it was just one of those filler spots,” he said following Friday’s game in Rochester.
He admits he was a little bit worried about where he would play this year but knew he could make a team if he was given a shot.
“It was a tough summer; I didn’t really know what I was going to do. I got a tryout with Montreal and went to their rookie camp. I made it through and then went to main camp and got to play some preseason games with the Canadiens,” he said.
Leggio, a graduate of St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute, is in his fourth professional season and second in the Buffalo Sabres organization. As a goaltender, his road to professional hockey has been a little bit tougher than DeSimone’s.
In four years at Clarkson University, Leggio led the Golden Knights to an Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament championship in 2007 and a regular season title in 2008.
Leggio was never drafted but did get a professional tryout with the AHL’s Binghamton Senators at the end of the 2007-2008 season. His tryout did not last long as he only played one game. The next season Leggio signed a professional contract with a team in a league one step down from the AHL, the Florida Everblades of the East Coast Hockey League. The next year, he decided to try his luck in Finland playing in the top Finnish hockey league. There he helped lead his team to another championship.
Next, the Sabres signed him to an AHL level contract with the Portland Pirates. After winning 22 games and losing just 12, the Sabres resigned him to a deal to play with the Amerks where he has a record of nine wins and eight loses.
He also has one of the most unique masks in the league. One detail that fans may not have noticed is an illustration of long-time announcer Rick Jeanneret.
Leggio was always a big Sabres fan and when he had to design a new mask for the Amerks, he wanted to include something related to the team’s parent club.
“At first I didn’t really know what to put on the Sabres side. The painter and I thought of putting Rick in there,” he said.
Leggio is not only a player in the Buffalo Sabres organization but he’s also a fan.
“From the time I was younger until now, he’s really the only person to have been there the entire time. I’m sure my family is not the only family that would turn on the radio and listen to Rick while watching Versus.”
In front of 9,771 fans, the largest crowd of the season in Rochester, Hamilton was able to hold onto a 5-4 lead Friday to win the game. Regardless of the final score, Rochester still outshot Hamilton 39-30.
As Hamilton was making sure to secure the lead, they shortened their bench which in turn limited DeSimone’s ice time. On the other side of the rink, Leggio was sent in to play the third period in place of the starting goaltender, Drew MacIntyre.
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