Fantilli makes memories for Blue Jackets in NHL debut

COLUMBUS -- In the big picture, as birthdays go, this was a great one.

Adam Fantilli turned 19 on Thursday and received a special gift in the morning: a text message forwarded from Wayne Gretzky, who wished him good luck in his NHL debut and told him to enjoy it.

“That was probably the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me,” Fantilli said.

The Columbus Blue Jackets lost 4-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers at Nationwide Arena on Thursday, but the No. 3 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft made memories that will last a lifetime and gave the fans hope for the future.

The center earned his first NHL point, an assist. He had two shots on goal and five shot attempts in 13:40 of ice time.

“Excellent, I thought it was,” coach Pascal Vincent said. “I think this guy is a driver. I think he’s a guy that will compete every shift. Everybody makes mistakes, but … he never makes a mistake of not working. Really impressed with him.”

A lot of work went into this dream coming true, and the Blue Jackets drove that home by collecting video messages from important people in Fantilli’s life. They showed them to him Wednesday, put together a video and posted it on social media Thursday.

Fantilli heard from Gavin Brindley, a former University of Michigan teammate, whom Columbus selected in the second round (No. 34) of the 2023 draft; Seamus Casey, another former Michigan teammate, whom the New Jersey Devils selected in the second round (No. 46) in the 2022 NHL Draft; and his brother, Luca, who also plays at Michigan. He heard from Dan and Mariola Andrusky, his grandparents, and Giuliano and Julia Fantilli, his parents.

They congratulated him. They told him how proud they were. They wiped away tears.

“That was a tough one,” Fantilli said after watching it all. “Wow.”

Assistant Mark Recchi chatted with Fantilli as they took slow laps during the morning skate, asking him about all the family coming to the game, giving him advice.

“I just told him, ‘Embrace it. Enjoy it. This is a moment you’ll never forget, and just go have fun,’” Recchi said.

Recchi is a great resource. The Hockey Hall of Famer has seen other high draft picks enter the NHL, most notably as a teammate of center Sidney Crosby, the No. 1 pick of the 2005 NHL Draft, with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005-06.

With Fantilli, so far, so good.

“He just wants to be a player, and you always love that,” Recchi said. “He’s always got questions. He wants to get better. He wants to improve. He wants to understand things. It’s fun to coach that.”

Fantilli arrived for the game in a gray windowpane suit and walked down the blue carpet in the plaza outside the arena, smiling and slapping five with the fans lining each side of the ropes during the opening night hoopla.

He took his rookie lap without a helmet -- laps, actually. His teammates took a while before joining him for the warmup. Fans stood against the glass all around the Columbus end and held signs, some of them wishing him a happy birthday.

“The first lap was pretty cool,” Fantilli said. “Right when the puck dropped, I kind of like settled in. I was able to relax there and just play hockey. I was happy to be able to do that. A lot of external stuff going on, but I was just happy to play hockey and get the first one in the books.”

Fantilli earned his first NHL point on his first NHL shot. He fired from the left wing, creating a rebound for defenseman Jake Bean to tie the score 1-1 at 8:24 of the first period. The sellout crowd of 18,614 roared, and the cannon sounded.

“I just wanted to get it off and get it on net,” Fantilli said. “It wasn’t the best shot ever, but it ended up going off the pad and right to ‘Beaner’s’ area there, and I was really happy for him to be able to pop that one.”

Bally Sports Ohio found his parents in the stands. You can imagine the emotion.

“It’s absolutely incredible, and to do it here at home in front of these amazing fans is … It’s unbelievable,” his dad said. “I’m overwhelmed.”

“It’s just incredible,” his mom said. “You know what? I said to somebody today, ‘Columbus is home.’ We feel it. We’re so excited that Adam’s able to spend his 19th birthday here and we’re able to be part of this organization and this city. We love it.”

In the third period, the Blue Jackets played “Birthday” by The Beatles and showed Fantilli on the scoreboard screen. Long after the game, you could hear people singing “Happy Birthday.” The song echoed in the empty arena.

“Everybody dreams about stepping out there on that ice, so I was grateful to be able to do that,” Fantilli said. “Not the result we wanted. A couple things we’ve got to clean up. I know we’ve got more. Yeah, overall, it was really cool to get out there.”