A real spark plug kind of player, Bo Christini has the “It” factor where when the game is on the line you get the feeling he is going to have some kind of say on the final outcome. He has an energy to his game that not a lot of players do, there’s a zip to his game and he is quick to take space and bear down on goal and take the chances in front of him without a second thought. He pounced on defensive gaps that led to very good shots for himself, forcing the opposition to respect him as a scoring threat. His playmaking ability impressed me, he was handling the puck well and using his agility to spin away from pressure and find space for himself, and linking up for quick one-two’s to beat a man and get in behind. His vision was very good and after establishing himself as a shooting threat he used that to his advantage by adding deception to his passes and feigning a shot before finding open guys across the ice for shooting chances - like he did against Mid Fairfield. The deception he applies before making his passes enhances his playmaking greatly, and combining that with how quickly he thinks on his feet and the strong decision making he possesses makes for a player opposing teams have to keep tabs on.

The shifty and deceiving attacking style of diminutive forward Christini made him a constant threat with the puck on his stick especially when attacking from the top of the circles towards the middle where he did most of his damage. He was able to easily freeze defenders by opening up his body, looking ready to shoot, before showing off his quick and fluid stick work to make his way around flat-footed opponents or demonstrating the vision to slip an unsuspecting pass across the slot to an open teammate which in turn, generated a lot of scoring chances for his team throughout this event. In the offensive zone, he connected on passes through tight seams quite efficiently but remained a strong dual threat player thanks to his quick release and deadly accurate shot that he used from all angles to catch goaltenders off-guard, making him an even more dangerous player on the powerplay when there was more space to operate within. The speed and determination he brought to the forecheck allowed him to create off of turnovers and counter-attacking opportunities as well, adding another layer to an already impressive offensive arsenal.

My first star of the game, New Yorker Bo Christini carried this American offence with great puck control using his small, continuous strides to pick up speed while roaming the perimeter with the ability to effectively protect pucks from his opponents sticks with quick stick work after drawing in pressure. His desire to attack the middle of the ice and funnel pucks towards the net is what led to some of the most dangerous chances for his team whether it was his smooth east-west passes in the offensive zone that helped his team tie the game up at 5-5 or his wickedly hard and accurate wrist shot that allowed him to beat the goaltender twice in this game including the game-winning goal after he toe-dragged a sprawling defender and wristed it under the glove of the goaltender with a quick release. His composure and deception with the puck made him difficult to read as a puck carrier which allowed him to effectively generate chances off the rush as well as during extended possessions in the offensive zone.

A diminutive and speedy forward, Christini was making his presence felt in this game by pressuring opposing defenders and turning turnovers into offense. He made a great play in the first period when he stick lifted an opponent and made a quick pass up the ice to spring a teammate in alone who scored. I thought he was making some good plays in transition as well, executing some difficult cross-ice feeds to teammates through traffic. He scored his teams 8th goal when an attempted centering pass banked off an opposing defender and found its way into the net.