Sophomore forward Chad Costello will not be returning to the Huskies next season. He has left the team to pursue a professional hockey career, signing with the Texas Wildcatters, an affiliate of the Minnesota Wild, of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL).
Costello said his decision to leave college early was partly because his ice time had diminished as this year’s season progressed. He said he had planned to turn pro before the season ended.
“The day after the season ended and we lost to Vermont there, I started working out things,” he said. “I told my agent I wanted to leave, and he talked to some teams, and this is the team that gave me an opportunity.”
Costello left Northeastern after a somewhat disappointing sophomore effort, scoring just three goals with 10 assists for a 13-point season.
Head coach Greg Cronin said he was proud of Costello’s academic success at Northeastern and the progress he made in the classroom.
“He’s a good kid and we’re going to miss him because he’s a good hockey player, but he wanted to play hockey and he wasn’t getting the ice time he wanted the second half of the year, so he moved on,” Cronin said. “To his credit, I think he was doing really well in school and I was really happy with the progress he made academically.”
Costello said the hardest part about leaving was parting with the people with whom he spent time as a part of the hockey team.
“It really hurt for me to leave. That was the hardest part, leaving my friends and leaving everyone on the team,” he said.
Costello has began playing and practicing for the Wildcatters, and said he plans to finish the season with the team, who are located in Beaumont, Texas. He said he plans to to play in the upcoming playoffs. The Wildcatters have the best record in the ECHL at 52-7.
After an 11-11-22 freshman season and this year’s 3-10-13 showing, Costello finishes his Husky career with 14 goals and 21 assists for 35 career points in 59 career games played.
Cronin said he didn’t agree with Costello’s decision to leave early, but that he understood his desire to play and to pursue a professional career.
“He’s a real passionate hockey player, and he felt that he wanted to really focus on playing hockey and going to a place where he was going to play,” Cronin said. “He took a gamble by going to the ECHL, but he feels that he wants to play professional hockey and work his way up. He wants to make it to the NHL. Whether he can or not is up to him.”
