Playing Pro Hockey in Italy
Player Name: Mathieu Ayotte
Most recent team you've played for- 19-20 season (Team, League, Country):
SG cortina, Alps hockey league , Italy/Austria/Slovenia
What was your favorite part about playing for your club/organization this past season?
Teammates and obviously the city was unreal.
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
How many years of pro have you played in Europe?
2
Off the ice, describe how your experience of living/playing in this country has been. What is everyday life like outside of the arena? culture/language/etc…
Cortina is a very touristic city. Only 5000 people living there but during winter more than 50 000 people in the city to ski so its a pretty nice experience to be there during the winter.
How would you best describe the style/level of play in the league? Speed game, physical vs open, systems, etc…
League is fast. Not physical . There's a big difference between the top teams and bottom teams like in a lot of leagues in Europe.
How many import players are allowed per team in the league? How was it playing there with the other imports on/off the ice?
I think it was 5 but there is a lot of Canadien players with Italian passports, so some Teams had 10-12 Canadiens. The other imports on my team were great honestly. I'm from Montreal....they were from bc and for sure ill go visit them when I can.
What's a favorite story or 2 of yours from playing overseas in Europe? Could be an awesome on ice experience like a big win in a packed away arena or a funny off ice story related to culture that has nothing to do with hockey….
Funny story that happened the first week I was in italy. The boys invited me to the restaurant, got there and I decided I wanted to order in italian .... I ordered a good old steak with potatoes. Potatoes in italian is patatine or something like that ... i said patatina which means v*gina so I ordered a plate of v*ginas....
Which city do you currently reside in during the off season & what do you enjoy most during the summer while you are out of the season?
Im in Beloeil , 20 minutes away from Montreal .
What I do in the summer is pretty simple, training family time and friends. I travel a lot during the season. You get 2-3 breaks per season, so you get to travel...thats pretty cool.
Last question: Favorite word/phrase you learned (or like using) in the foreign language where you played?
Daiiii = "Lets go."
:) other stuff I know is not very nice to say obviously
