D-S Hockey Captain Copponi To Be Recognized At Bruins Game For Sportsmanship

D-S senior hockey captain P.J. Copponi excelled on the ice this year for the Raiders and was one of the top players in the Tri-Valley League this season. This Tuesday P.J. will be back on the ice, this time at the TD Garden when he will be recognized as a winner of the Boston Bruins/MIAA Ice Hockey Sportsmanship Award.

A runner-up last year for the award, Copponi will be on the ice during an intermission when the Bruins play against the New Jersey Devils, representing the Tri-Valley League along with the other boys and girls chosen to represent their respective leagues.

“It’ll be fun. I have a few friends that will be going to the game so they’ll be looking for me,” P.J. said.

According to the Bruins website, the student-athletes are chosen for "best exemplifying the highest standards of fair play and sportsmanship in high school ice hockey."

As a two-time captain for the Raiders, Copponi believes that sportsmanship is best displayed on and off the ice.

“It’s one of those sports where everybody needs to be going together. You can have a few players that stand out but you need the whole team to come together, especially in hockey,” P.J. said.

“I definitely think that comes with it. You’re able to lead by example; a lot of captains seem to do that these days. But I definitely think it’s what happens off the ice, in the locker room, at school. Especially with the younger kids. You’ve got freshmen and sophomores coming up that have never really experienced a varsity sport before. So I think to be able to make them feel like they’re a huge part of the team and make everyone feel comfortable is definitely a huge part of it,” said Copponi.

P.J. said that one example this year that exemplifies his sportsmanship was when the from being down four goals in the third period to tie rival Medfield.

“I’d say against Medfield, we were down 6-2 going into the third period. I have a couple of buddies on the [Medfield] team and they were giving me a hard time throughout the game,” he said. “It was just keeping everyone together, keep everyone onboard and then we ended up coming back, tying the game 6-6 with three seconds left. So I think being able to keep myself together, my coaches, my team, kind of everyone on the same page to battle through that and get those four goals that we needed definitely showed leadership.”

On Tuesday, P.J. is hoping he might run into a couple of Bruins players when he's at the Garden.

“I’d want to meet Krejci,” he said. “I’d also want to meet Seguin. Being so young, less than a year older than I am, I’d like to see what he has to say.”

Having finished his senior hockey campaign with D-S, Copponi is hoping that Tuesday night won't be the last time he sets foot on the ice.

P.J. is planning to go on and play in college as well, although he hasn't decided on where he wants to go at the moment.

“Still deciding. Still hearing back from schools. It’s a whole waiting process right now," said Copponi.

He said that his top choices are St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. and College of the Holy Cross in Worcester.

As for right now, P.J. is just looking forward to being on the ice at the Garden.

“It definitely means a lot to myself and my team. My team, they were pumped to know that I was the one selected and that our team was kind of the winner,” said Copponi. “It should be a fun night.”