I am going to post the first of a two-part Chris and Peter Ferraro
feature, with the first installment appearing in today's Maine Campus.
The second installment will run in Friday's paper where the twins
discuss their close relationship and their thoughts of being apart from
each other.
By Bill Stewart
Maine Campus staff
The bloodlines streaming through the University of Maine hockey
program over the years have resulted in a profusion of twin towers who
made a habit of piercing and slicing the ice in Alfond Arena.
But none loom larger than the bantam bombers from New York, Chris and
Peter Ferraro.
The dominating duo, who played on the Black Bears' 1992-93 NCAA
Championship team, are playing in the professional ranks after
competing in just 83 combined collegiate games in the Black Bear
sweaters.
Peter, who was a first round draft selection of the New York Rangers
in 1992, is playing with the Boston Bruins while Chris is skating with
the American Hockey League's Hamilton Bulldogs, which are part of the
Edmonton Oilers organization.
"Things are going pretty well," said Peter, whose six points with the
Bruins are almost half of his career NHL totals. "I came in here with
the intention that [the Bruins] were going to have a full roster and I
had to make some sort of impression to find a spot on the roster."
Entering this season, Peter had played for the New York Rangers and
Pittsburgh Penguins, where he amassed eight points through 37 career
games.
Chris, who was drafted by the New York Rangers in the fourth round in
the NHL's 1992 entry draft, signed with Edmonton after toying in the
Rangers and Penguins organizations with his brother.
"For me, it's been a little more of a struggle," said Chris on the
process of signing with a new team this summer. "I had several teams
interested in me, so I had to make a decision in my heart what team was
going to suit me the best."
The Ferraros, who combined for 101 points during Maine's banner year,
had double vision when it came to an opportunity for enhancing their
careers professionally.
After the 1992-93 season, the twins embarked on an international
voyage that culminated with Peter playing for the U.S. National and
Olympic teams in 1993-94.
Peter, who captured a bronze medal with Team USA in the 1992 World
Junior Championships, banged home six goals in eight games at the
Lillehammer tournament.
Chris, who was suffering from mono at the time, failed to make the cut
for the Olympic squad.
Decision time
Upon the conclusion of the 1994 games, the Ferraros, after lengthy
discussions with Maine coach Shawn Walsh, soared out of Orono and
signed their first professional contracts.
"We signed with the Atlanta Knights [property of the Tampa Bay
Lightning] the year after the Olympics," Chris said. "We just wanted to
maintain a high level of competition. Our thought process was not to
take a step back but forward."
And the collegiate playing days were over.
"I remember us talking to Walshy, and he said: 'Listen guys, I'm going
to be straight up with you guys. I'd love to have you guys back but by
the looks of it, it's probably time to move on,'" Peter said. "And he
was being honest. He goes, 'Guys, I'm not telling you this because I
don't want you back because selfishly I want you back.'
"So, that helped our decision. It didn't totally sway our decision,
but he had a word in it."
With sticks and skates packed away, the Ferraros traded their pine
cones for peaches in a transit designed to accelerate the process of
establishing a presence in the NHL.
But it backfired. In a move that both brothers admit in retrospect
thwarted the process to the professional level, the twins acknowledged
how the decision came with a price.
"I think at the time maybe my brother and I weren't ready for the jump
right into pro hockey," Peter said. "Skillwise and talentwise we might
have been ready but we didn't make a good decision going to Atlanta."
And are there any regrets?
"I can't really say I have regrets but in a way I do," Peter said. "I
wish I would've went back to Maine for maybe a year or two. I
contradict myself, in a way. It was a short stint and it was kind of a
blur to me.
"We won the NCAA title and the season went by so fast, and then I was
off to the Olympic team."
"I regret it," Chris said. "I wish we had gone back to college that
year and possibly won another national title and possibly won a Hobey
Baker award. It would've been a little better for our development."
But the stay in Atlanta was shorter than the time spent in Maine. After
just three quarters of a season donning the Knights' uniforms, the
Ferraros played for the Rangers' farm team in Binghamton.
It was there where the twins had hoped to elevate their game under the
lights and thunder in Madison Square Garden with the big club.
However, the childhood dream would not be lived as the opportunity to
flourish with the Rangers would never occur.
"Well, it hasn't been what I had planned," Peter said on the road
through the NHL. "After going to school in Maine and playing for the
Olympic team, I figured things would be a lot different.
"I look back and figured both my brother and I would play for the
Rangers and be hometown guys that had a chance to play in their
hometown. Unfortunately, that didn't happen."
Looking back
Despite not returning to Orono, the Ferraros look back at their Black
Bear playing days in awe and amazement.
"Playing with Paul Kariya, Garth Snow and Mike Dunham was just great,"
Peter said. "Winning the national title is something I'll never forget."
"Our team was so dominant," Chris said on the 1992-93 unit. "I had
never been on a team so dominant like that in my life. You're getting
ready before the game and you just know you're going to win the game.
"You're playing against a team," he said, "and you see them working
their butts off and they are working so hard, and you're just saying to
yourself, 'it doesn't matter how hard you work, we're still going to
beat you.'"
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