(Editor's Note: This week's spotlight is on Anthony Chighisola, who is entering is final hockey season in Rindge. The roles have been reversed on Anthony this year as he is the interviewee, while last year, he was the interviewer while serving as a feature writer for the athletic department.)

By Dave Sweet
Athletics Student Feature Writer

In the analytical world, an athlete’s legacy is so often determined by statistics: minutes played, goals scored, tackles recorded, etc. That’s for good reason. Such statistics are valuable indicators of how hard an athlete has worked on a personal level. And in some cases, statistics alone are enough to make an athlete feel fulfilled. Others, however, thirst for something more. Men’s ice hockey’s Anthony Chighisola exemplifies such an athlete.

In his fifth season in Rindge, as a graduate student, Chighisola (Whitman, Mass.) holds program records for goals (17), assists (19), and total points (36) in a season. He’s second all-time in points (74), second all-time in assists (47), third in goals (33), and fifth in power-play goals (12). At the end of his sophomore season, he became the first Raven of in program history to be honored as a First-Team All-Northeast-10 Conference selection. All of this – keep in mind – while missing the past season and a half due to injury. Had he been able to play out his full undergraduate tenure it’s unlikely a single one of those records would still be standing.

But if one were to ask him personally, they wouldn’t even know.

“I don’t really look at it like I’ve left any kind of mark,” Chighisola said in regards to his accolades. “I came here trying to change the legacy of the program as a whole, not just my own. That’s where my head’s at and that’s not going to change.”

Chighisola has hockey in his blood. Raised by his grandparents, he began skating at the age of two. His grandfather, who raised him along with his grandmother, is the legendary coach Dennis Chighisola. ‘Coach Chic’, as he’s known throughout the greater New England hockey community, founded the New England Institute of Hockey in 1976. He dictates clinics in the Massachusetts and Rhode Island areas to this day. Anthony’s father, Michael Chighisola, has played professional hockey in more than eight different leagues (including brief stints in the NHL) since 1986.

The upcoming season looks to be a promising one for Raven’s hockey. The team returns more than twenty upperclassman, and boasts a talented new freshman class. “This is the most talented team I’ve ever played on,” said Chighisola. “We have kids that don’t dress that could easily be third or fourth liners on any other team. If we don’t get things done this year and bring home a winning season, it’s hard to imagine we ever will.”

Off the ice, Chighisola graduated with a degree in sports and recreational management, as well as a minor in marketing. When his hockey career eclipses, he plans on pursuing a career that combines the two fields. Until then, he hopes he can either coach or play professionally.

The modern athlete is atypically a humble being. For many, personal statistics and accolades outweigh the noble goal of aggregate accomplishment. Anthony Chighisola represents the antithesis of such an athlete.

“I would give up every record I hold  just to bring a Northeast-10 championship to this school, and I’d do it in a heartbeat. Even if we had a winning season this year, I’d give it all up in a heartbeat. The accolades and stuff are nice but they don’t even compare. The team is what matters.”