(2010) - It is not a stretch to say Christian Sbrocca, a standout hockey player from 1992-96, was among the most talented student-athletes in UMass Lowell history. On any given game-night, he could light the lamp as well as anyone. A singer/guitarist, he could later be found performing anywhere in Lowell.
Sbrocca capped his career as one of UMass Lowell's greatest Division I players in the team's Division I era. He helped guide the Chiefs to a four-year clip of 88-56-15 - including 10-8-1 in the postseason - which included four straight trips to the Hockey East semifinal round at the Boston Garden; as well as two appearances in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal round.
"Christian was one of my favorite players," said former head coach Bruce Crowder, who coached at UMass Lowell from 1991-96. "He was always pushing the (coaching) staff to get him in position to do more. And he deserved it. What he did on and off the ice, it was all good."
Sbrocca holds the school record for games player in a career with 158. He only missed one game in four years. He also owns UMass Lowell's Division I record for assists in a season with 42.
For his career, Sbrocca compiled 56 goals, and 115 assists for 171 points. He left his name in several places among career leaders in the record book, ranking fifth in assists (second among Division I players), seventh in points (second) and 20th in goals (eighth).
He also compiled 315 penalty minutes, which ranks second all-time.
"Christian was a talented, skilled, passionate, explosive and graceful, but feisty hockey player," said Bob Ellis, who has served as UMass Lowell's hockey radio commentator for 27 years. "He was a creative offensive force who did everything with a flare."
In one of UMass Lowell's biggest regular season wins - an 8-6 triumph over No. 1 Boston University - Sbrocca scored two goals and assisted on two others. He ended his career on a 19-game scoring streak.
Sbrocca played professionally for 11 years with stints in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) with Pensacola as well as several years in his native Quebec and a year each in Italy and Austria.
Known through the mid 1990s as a feared hockey player, nowadays Sbrocca is a sought after singer/songwriter in Canada and Europe. He has released three albums, My Script (1999), Le balafre (2004) and L'opinion des autres (2008), and performs in both English and French.
"I didn't even know he sang until he came to me and asked if he could sing the national and Canadian anthems on Senior Night," Crowder recalled.
A year after he cut his first album, Sbrocca earned his degree in business administration.
