Men's Hockey: An engineer on and off the ice

“I was about 4 or 5, I think,” Calof said of when he started to play hockey in his hometown of Ottawa. “At least that’s what I’m told. I’ve just always loved it and stuck with it.”

Growing up in Ottawa, Calof was surrounded by professional and junior hockey leagues. He frequently attended Ottawa Senators and Ontario Hockey League games with family and friends.

“Hockey was always a big part of family activities. We’d always go watch games,” Calof said. “So it’s just kind of always been around everything that I’ve done.”

Calof played for the nearby Nepean Raiders as a high school student and his team reached the finals of the Canadian Junior Hockey League tournament one year. The proximity of the team’s games allowed him to stay at home and focus on his studies.

“I got to live at home and focus on my marks and make sure those were up to standards so I could look at schools where I would get an Ivy League education, which is what I always wanted,” he said.

Attending Princeton had long been a dream of Calof’s, but one he never was confident would actually come true.

“When [the coaches] actually started talking to me, I was kind of like a deer in the headlights. I was like, ‘Woah you’re actually talking to me?’ ” Calof explained. “After coming down and seeing the campus and meeting the coaches, it was just amazing, so when they made me the offer I was really excited.”

Just like when he played for the Raiders, Calof is thrilled to again be playing in a great hockey program where he can also pursue his rigorous studies. He plans to major in chemical engineering at Princeton.

“I think at other Ivy League schools they’re more focused on the hockey than the education, whereas here it’s a really good balance,” he said.

While he still aspires to the National Hockey League career that several Princeton athletes before him have accomplished, Calof knows he will have options.

“If I don’t make it, I’ve got a Princeton degree, which isn’t a bad backup at all,” he joked.

Although Calof said Princeton has been “everything I could ask for and more,” he certainly went through an adjustment period as an international student-athlete coming off a gap year. After graduating high school, Calof spent a semester at the University of Ottowa studying chemistry and calculus and also took a break from academics.

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“It was kind of tough getting back to doing such high-level schoolwork with hockey, but once you learn to manage time it gets better,” he said.

One thing that has really helped him during his transition is support from his teammates, which he says has been instant and unwavering.

“It’s been like a family environment since the second I got here with all the guys,” he said. “We’re just always all together, and it definitely helps team chemistry.”

Perhaps Calof’s biggest surprise since arriving on campus is just how much of an impact he has had on the team.

“I thought that everyone was heads and tails above me and that I wouldn’t get any chance because I wasn’t able to compete with them,” Calof admitted of his first few days in practice.

Eager to learn from his older teammates, Calof turned especially to senior forwards Mike Kramer and Matt Arhontas, both of whom were freshmen when Princeton won the ECAC Hockey championship in 2008.

“Anything that I need to do better, they help me on in practice, so they’ll show me the kind of stuff they’ve seen be successful,” Calof explained.

Coming off its worst record since the 2005-06 season, things are looking up as the team sits at 5-2 in league play. Nevertheless, the team refuses to be satisfied with simple improvement.

“It’s been going well, but we know we can be better,” Calof said. “We’ve lost a couple games that we think we could have won, so we’re happy that we’re doing well, but we’re not happy enough.”

He explained that the team has set a series of goals, beginning with completing a winning season and ending with the ultimate aim of winning an NCAA championship.

While thoughts of a national title might be a far-off dream at this point, for Calof, his Thanksgiving trip home provided all the validation he needed.

“Just going back home and seeing how much people respect you for where you play is a lot of fun,” he said. “Everyone wants to go to the NCAA, so going back and realizing the opportunity I have is something special.”