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Matt Nieto
Matthew Evan Nieto (born November 5, 1992) is an American professional ice hockey left winger who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played two separate stints each for the San Jose Sharks and the Colorado Avalanche. He was drafted by the Sharks in the second round, 47th overall, of the 2011 NHL entry draft.
Nieto is of Mexican-American descent. Nieto's father, Jesse, is a longshoreman, while his mother, Mary, is a Nordstrom makeup artist.
Nieto grew up in Long Beach, California, in a dangerous neighborhood; his mother had stated: "There were drive-by shootings. He jokes about it, that Snoop Dogg lived around the corner. It's true, but Matt wasn't born then."
When he was two years old, Nieto became interested in skating, particularly rollerblading, when he saw his sister skating in the family's house. His grandfather later bought him a hockey stick, and when he was three Nieto began playing roller hockey at the YMCA. As a youth, he played in the 2004 and 2005 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with the Los Angeles Hockey Club minor ice hockey team, and was teammates with Emerson Etem and Rocco Grimaldi.
Nieto has a sister with Down syndrome and autism and his mother has battled advanced breast cancer.
Nieto began attending Salisbury School, a preparatory school, in Salisbury, Connecticut, at the start of his second year of high school. In one season with the school's hockey team, he scored eight goals and ten assists in 28 games. The performance drew the attention of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, and Nieto subsequently moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to play in the Program. In 2008–09, he played for the under-17 and under-18 teams, scoring 20 goals and 33 assists and six goals and eight assists, respectively. The next season, he played for the Program's United States Hockey League (USHL) team, scoring 15 goals and 14 assists; he also returned to the under-17 team, scoring one goal.
After participating in the Program, Nieto was offered a chance to play major junior hockey for the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League (WHL), but opted to attend college instead and play at the collegiate level. When choosing colleges, Nieto decided between Boston University and Boston College, and elected to attend the former on a full scholarship. In his first year, Nieto scored 10 goals and 13 assists. The next year, he scored 16 goals and 26 assists with a plus-minus rating of +19. In 2012, Nieto scored 18 goals, second-most on the team behind Dan O'Regan, and 19 assists. He ended his Terriers career with 44 goals and 102 points in 115 games.
Nieto was ranked the 43rd-best prospect and the second-best player in the NCAA's Hockey East conference by NHL.com among the 2011 draft class. Hockey's Future stated he had struggled earlier in his career defensively, but had since improved. They added he had "explosive speed", and excels with puck handling and passing while moving. The website gave him a 7.5/10 talent score.
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Matt Nieto
Matthew Evan Nieto (born November 5, 1992) is an American professional ice hockey left winger who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played two separate stints each for the San Jose Sharks and the Colorado Avalanche. He was drafted by the Sharks in the second round, 47th overall, of the 2011 NHL entry draft.
Nieto is of Mexican-American descent. Nieto's father, Jesse, is a longshoreman, while his mother, Mary, is a Nordstrom makeup artist.
Nieto grew up in Long Beach, California, in a dangerous neighborhood; his mother had stated: "There were drive-by shootings. He jokes about it, that Snoop Dogg lived around the corner. It's true, but Matt wasn't born then."
When he was two years old, Nieto became interested in skating, particularly rollerblading, when he saw his sister skating in the family's house. His grandfather later bought him a hockey stick, and when he was three Nieto began playing roller hockey at the YMCA. As a youth, he played in the 2004 and 2005 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with the Los Angeles Hockey Club minor ice hockey team, and was teammates with Emerson Etem and Rocco Grimaldi.
Nieto has a sister with Down syndrome and autism and his mother has battled advanced breast cancer.
Nieto began attending Salisbury School, a preparatory school, in Salisbury, Connecticut, at the start of his second year of high school. In one season with the school's hockey team, he scored eight goals and ten assists in 28 games. The performance drew the attention of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, and Nieto subsequently moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to play in the Program. In 2008–09, he played for the under-17 and under-18 teams, scoring 20 goals and 33 assists and six goals and eight assists, respectively. The next season, he played for the Program's United States Hockey League (USHL) team, scoring 15 goals and 14 assists; he also returned to the under-17 team, scoring one goal.
After participating in the Program, Nieto was offered a chance to play major junior hockey for the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League (WHL), but opted to attend college instead and play at the collegiate level. When choosing colleges, Nieto decided between Boston University and Boston College, and elected to attend the former on a full scholarship. In his first year, Nieto scored 10 goals and 13 assists. The next year, he scored 16 goals and 26 assists with a plus-minus rating of +19. In 2012, Nieto scored 18 goals, second-most on the team behind Dan O'Regan, and 19 assists. He ended his Terriers career with 44 goals and 102 points in 115 games.
Nieto was ranked the 43rd-best prospect and the second-best player in the NCAA's Hockey East conference by NHL.com among the 2011 draft class. Hockey's Future stated he had struggled earlier in his career defensively, but had since improved. They added he had "explosive speed", and excels with puck handling and passing while moving. The website gave him a 7.5/10 talent score.
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