From College Campus to The Show

From on campus to The Show.
It's been quite the full-circle journey for Evan Rodrigues and Matt Nieto - who both went to Boston University - and Andrew Cogliano and Jack Johnson - who played together at the University of Michigan - as the pairs went from hitting the books back in college to now, playing for the Colorado Avalanche together.

As this year's NCAA Division l Frozen Four began on Thursday night, Rodrigues and Nieto and Cogliano and Johnson reflected on their paths first crossing at their respective schools, to know having their hockey careers intertwined once more at the collegiate level.
While neither of Rodrigues and Nieto's alma mater (Boston University) nor Cogliano and Johnson's (Michigan) alma mater advanced to the 2023 national championship, the pairs still took time to look back at their times playing Division 1 hockey.

In addition to Rodrigues, Nieto, Cogliano and J. Johnson, the Avalanche also have Cale Makar (University of Massachusetts), Erik Johnson (University of Minnesota) Alex Newhook (Boston College), Logan O'Connor (University of Denver), Josh Manson (Northeastern University), Ben Meyers (University of Minnesota) and Devon Toews (Quinnipiac) who all pursued the college route prior to reaching the NHL.
"It's definitely cool, I've played on teams in the past that were kind of the same way," Rodrigues said of the amount of players the Avalanche have who went the college route. "I think more than [junior hockey] there's a little bit more of a pride of where you went to school. With the Frozen Four coming up, to have representation from all four teams that are there, it's a cool feeling. I know - especially for the guys who went to the remaining schools left - we're looking forward to following and seeing who comes out on top."

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FROM BEANTOWN TO THE MILE HIGH

For the pairs of Rodrigues and Nieto and Cogliano and J. Johnson in particular, it's even more special of an experience to have been teammates together at the college level at BU and Michigan, respectively, while now skating alongside one another and representing the Avalanche in the NHL.
Rodrigues and Nieto overlapped at Boston University from 2011-13, despite coming from differing backgrounds.
Rodrigues took an 'unconventional route' from most Canadian-born kids as the Toronto-born winger played at BU from 2011-15, where he earned a business degree with concentrations in finance and law. He was also part of the team that fell just short by a score of 4-3 in the 2015 national championship to Providence College. Nieto, who grew up in Long Beach, Calif. and spent time away from home - at Salisbury School in Connecticut and the U.S. National Team Development Program in Plymouth, Mich. - at a young age to pursue his hockey career,
joined the Terriers' program in 2010. Nieto then departed for the his pro career - first, in the AHL - following the completion of his junior season in 2013.
During the two seasons that Rodrigues and Nieto donned the Scarlet and White, the two wingers were actually on a line together for a stint.
"It's really cool. it's something that's kind of rare," Nieto said. "It doesn't happen a whole lot for you to end up on the same [NHL] team with a guy you were classmates and were linemates with for a while there. We'd obviously play each other here in the NHL for some years, but to be on the same team is actually really cool and super special."
Rodrigues joined the Avalanche during the 2022 offseason, while Nieto made his return to Colorado in January as he was traded from the Sharks. The reunion for the former college teammates has been special especially with some major life changes having happened since the pair were hitting the books. Rodrigues, who is 29, now has two sons, Grayson (4) and Noah (2) - who come to nearly every home game and enthusiastically cheer on their dad during warmup before he gives them each a puck through the camera hole in the glass.
And while Grayson and Noah haven't quite grasped the concept of what college hockey is compared to the NHL, Rodrigues has explained to them how he and Nieto, and Rodrigues' wife Christie were all classmates together at Boston University.
"We have a framed BU jersey in the house," Rodrigues said. "I don't think they quite understand yet. But they've kind of got it down that Matt and I have known each other for a long time and obviously, are on the same team now."

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FROM GO BLUE TO THE BURGUNDY AND BLUE

It's been quite the journey since arriving to Ann Arbour as bright-eyed freshmen back in 2005 for veterans Cogliano and J. Johnson. Nearly 20 years later, with over a combined total of 2,300 NHL games split between them (1,214 for Cogliano and 1,102 for J. Johnson) and having their names both engraved in the Stanley Cup last season with the Avalanche, it's surreal to reflect how far they've come since they were teammates for the Michigan Wolverines.
"It was great,"Cogliano said with his toothless grin. "We lived together, played together, we had a big [freshmen] class. It was a lot of fun. I was there a couple years with him and we made a lot of great memories and we've obviously made some more memories now together in the NHL."
For J. Johnson, being reunited with Cogliano last year was special as the winger was traded to the Avalanche at the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline prior to the team's long and successful run - where J. Johnson completed his college degree in the middle of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Even after winning the Cup together this past summer, their paths were separated as J. Johnson signed with Chicago to start the 2022-23 seasons. But they weren't a part for long as the Avalanche traded back for J. Johnson at the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline as the team looks to repeat winning the Stanley Cup.

And now, with both Cogliano and Johnson and they're respective families in Denver, the pair are looking forward to even more memories together.
"When you're that young you can't ever imagine that some day when you're 36 years old you'll still be playing or be unfortunate to still be playing," J. Johnson said. "We all hope to be playing the NHL, obviously, but it is pretty special to have had that experience together. At the point we were kids really so we'll always share those memories [at Michigan] together. Then to be reunited later on in our career that far down the road, is crazy. How it all came together like that, it is really cool. If anything it's cool just to see each other with families. I know for me it's really cool. To see him as dad now and everything because we remember each other when we were 18-year-old freshmen running around campus trying to find our classrooms. It's pretty neat."