Blackhawks goaltending prospect Drew Commesso spoke with the media on Wednesday afternoon as he prepares for his first professional season on the ice. And that🗹 preparation was one of the topics that was the most interesting in his comments.
Commesso, who turns 21 on July 19, was the Blackhawks’ second-round pick (No. 46 overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft and just completed a successful four years at Boston University. There were some bumps in the road during his senior year, but some of those can be attributed to him having mono around Christmas. Commesso shared he got sick during a down time for the team, so while it worked out alright with the game schedule he did lose a fair amount of weight and that impacted his play coming back.
But down the stretch, Commesso was exceptional. He helped BU advance to the Frozen Fo🌊ur and later signed his entry-level deal with the Blackhawks. Though he joined Rockford briefly, he left the IceHogs to spend time with USA Hockey at the World Championship.
Commesso was asked about what he’s working on and where his focus is as he spends a summer getting himself ready physically and mentally for the grind of what will likely be a full season in Rockford in the AHL. His response was — sorry for the pun — (en)Lightening.
He said the biggest thing he’s incorporated into his offseason training is a regimen he found that Tampa Bay goaltender (and future Hall of Famer) Andrei Vasilevskiy used before he turned pro.
Commesso said he’s focusing on his physical and mental by using a schedule Vasilevskiy used that has stretching as one of its core practices. He stretches first thing in the morning and before going to bed at night. He’s also doing a heavy yoga series that he said is harder than the weight training or on-ice work that he’s done as well.
Meditation is also something Commesso said he’s added to his program this summer that he saw in Vasilevskiy’s detailed daily schedule before he made the leap into the professional ranks.
He was confident anﷺd polished in front of the media; his four years at a premier college 𒆙program showed. And he mentioned that making a deep run into the college postseason and then joining USA Hockey at the end of that season was enough hockey that he was ready to build on his success to take his game to the next level.
When asked about the Blackhawks selecting a goaltender — Adam Gajan — in the second round of the draft, his answer was concise. That doesn’t impact his ability to stop pucks. And the Blackhawks are looking forward to him stopping pucks as he begins his journey as a professional hockey player.
