Wednesday, 29.12.2010 / 4:24 PM / Mike Ulmer's Blog
By Mike Ulmer - Mapleleafs.commentator

You can never be absolutely certain you are on the right road.

But when you are the wrong one, the world has a way of letting you know.

That’s what Maple Leafs’ prospect Matt Frattin would tell you.

He would tell you the right way isn’t hard to find, but it can be murder to navigate. For Frattin it would ramble from Edmonton to Grand Forks North Dakota, back and forth, back and forth until August 2009 when the trail went dry.

Frattin, a fearsome sniper for the Fighting Sioux, is famous for being able to stand his ground. A six-foot-two, two hundred and five pound right-shooting, right wing, Frattin’s strength on his skates is near legendary.

But by August of 2009, holding his ground was no longer an option. His scholarship was revoked. There had been too much for the coaching staff to stomach. He was acquitted on a DWI charge that nonetheless embarrassed the school and the hockey program. He pled down to charges in connection with a bout of drinking where he and a friend tossed household items off the roof of a house.

There was more. How much more doesn’t matter. What UND coach Dave Hakstol saw was a likeable kid who hadn’t yet developed the emotional equipment necessary to keep alcohol from damaging his life.

“There were a lot of little things in terms of playing and reliability,” said Hakstol. “There were other things away from the rink I was aware of. I knew he was going in a bad direction.”

“I got into a little bit of trouble,” Frattin said from Edmonton. “The coach told me that I had to get back on track and to find out what hockey meant to me.”

Booze in college is like meat in a grocery story. It is part of the experience, but if you have ever been the only person at a party not drinking, you know what Matt Frattin was facing.

And that’s only if he made it back. First he had to go back to Edmonton, face his parents and explain what happened. There was no guarantee whatsoever the school, let alone his teammates, would take him back.

Many would have told you the day he was sent home figured to be the last time Matt Frattin showed his face at the school.

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