The St. Louis-born hockey player is a CBC grad, and will be representing his family’s heritage for the host country of Italy in Milan.
MILAN, Italy — St. Louis connections are easy to find on the hockey ice in Milan. But even if you look past Team USA, the connections continue.
Nick Saracino is a St. Louis native playing for the host country of Italy.
“This process probably started about four or five years ago,” Saracino said. “I was playing in Europe and had an agent reach out to me and ask if I was able to obtain my dual citizenship. And my grandfather is from here, and I was able to get my citizenship in Italy. Then found a team to play for for a few years, and then tried out for the national team and was able to make it. It’s been a great experience so far.”
It would not be a St. Louis and Italy story without a food connection. And this has a big one. You may have heard of Bartolino’s? Yeah, that’s Saracino’s family.
Now that family gets to see Nick represent their Italian roots.
“It (his family’s connection to Italy) goes pretty deep. My grandfather is from here. My grandmother’s parents are from here, she was born in St. Louis. And then obviously it goes way back from there. I’m deeply connected to this country. I’ve been living here for four years, so I definitely feel a connection,” Saracino said. “It’s great that I’m still playing. I’m getting a little older. It’s great that I can still play the game that I love. Being from St. Louis and seeing how the hockey has grown there has been great. And then obviously my family owning the restaurants and everything… I feel like this is where I’m meant to be. And it worked out.”
Saracino is a winner. He won back-to-back challenge cups in high school at CBC, and then won a national championship with Providence in college. Now, he gets to play on hockey’s biggest stage possible at the Olympics.
“Definitely like a roller coaster for sure. Lots of ups and downs. I have been successful starting with CBC, and then moving onto juniors we had a pretty successful team, and then in college able to win the national championship. I’ve been very lucky and blessed to play on some great teams and then coming over to Europe I’ve met some great people and played on some great teams… I can’t complain,” Saracino said.
The St. Louis native walked with Team Italy in the opening ceremony in Milan, and is looking forward to everything the Olympic experience has to offer.
“Honestly I’m just taking it all in. The opening ceremony was unbelievable. I texted my family right away. I said, ‘That was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever done, walking out like that.’ It was just a surreal experience. I’m happy to be here and excited to get the games going,” Saracino said.