ECHL Alumni Profile - Tim Sestito, New Jersey Devils - ECHL.com

January 11, 2012

By MIKE ASHMORE

 

NEWARK, N.J. â€" It was the morning of a big game in Newark, and Tim Sestito wasn't sure if he was going to get to be a part of it.

 

Patrik Elias wasn't at the morning skate due to an illness, and there was some speculation that he might be forced to miss the big rivalry matchup between his New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers.  Travis Zajac's return to the lineup had temporarily made Sestito the odd man out in the lineup, but he practiced on Elias' line in his place with veteran winger Petr Sykora and opened some eyes with his play.

 

"We practiced together yesterday, and he filled in well," Sykora told ECHL.com. "He had a good practice. I'm not sure where or if he's going to play tonight, but I think so far at the position he's been in, he's done a great job."

 

As Sykora was finishing up his comments to the media, Sestito walked in and took a seat at his locker, still unsure of his status for the night's game.

 

"I come prepared like I'm going to play every day," he said.

 

"If I don't play, I get a workout in and get ready for the next day. I don't think it's that difficult, I'm old enough now to where I don't think it would really affect me negatively. So I'm just going to come prepared to play and to work hard, and we'll see what happens. I'm coming into like I'm playing, so until that last second where I find out if Patty's back or not, that's how I'm looking at it."

 

Such is life for Sestito, and many like him trying to become everyday players in the NHL. The older brother of gritty Flyers forward Tom Sestito, Tim has split the last three seasons between New Jersey and its AHL affiliate, first Lowell, and then Albany, where he was just assigned yesterday.

 

But before that, he cut his teeth in the ECHL during two full seasons with the Greenville Grrrowl (2005-06) and Stockton Thunder (2006-07) after going undrafted following a four-year junior career with Plymouth in the OHL. He first headed to the AHL, however, playing nine games for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2004-05. Given that, and his strong play there -- he tallied two goals and an assist -- he thought he might get to skip the ECHL entirely the following year.

 

"That's your goal, and you're disappointed when it doesn't happen," he said.

 

"But I knew I had a lot to learn at the pro game, and I had a great coach in John Marks. We had some great guys there, and I think I did a lot of developing when I was in Greenville."

 

Sestito explained how he ended up with the Grrrowl in the first place.

 

"I went to camp with the Edmonton Oilers and caught the attention of some guys there," Sestito said.

 

"They didn't have an American League team at the time, but they said they had a spot in Greenville for me, so I went there and had a decent year. I struggled mightily probably the first third of the season, I don't know if I had a goal yet. I was really frustrated, but the coach stuck with me and I had some great linemates. I think that was the most goals I've ever had in my career, so it was a great last half of the year. I ended up signing out of there the next year."

 

The following season, he began the year in the AHL once again with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, but returned to the ECHL with the Stockton Thunder after just four games.

 

"I was a little frustrated when I got sent down, but it was a great place to play," he said.

 

"They had a great facility and great fans. I think that was the first year Stockton went to the playoffs, and we ended up losing to Idaho, who won it that year. It was a great experience to play in the playoffs and in a barn like that."

 

Sestito finally put the ECHL behind him for good the following season, sticking with the AHL's Springfield Falcons for the entire year.

 

"That was good, but I didn't take anything for granted," he recalled.

 

"They finally had their own American League team, and we had a great coach there in Kelly Buchberger who helped me a lot. I knew I could go down, and that was motivation. The ECHL is a great league, but you want to keep moving up."

 

Sestito established career highs with 77 games played and 175 penalty minutes, but hasn't even reached triple digits in the latter number since then.

 

"I think that first year, I was a third and fourth line guy, and I needed to provide energy and had some fights and some scrums. A bunch of ten (minute misconducts) too, so maybe those numbers are a little inflated. But later on, I started scoring more, and you can't score when you're sitting in the penalty box and you can't kill your own penalties, either. I was a penalty killer, so I had to stay out. I think I found a niche as a third line guy penalty killer in the American League, so I started chipping in and trying to score goals."

 

In 2008-09, Sestito was named the captain of the Falcons and had really developed his game all-around, and got to make his long-awaited NHL debut for the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 22, 2008.

 

"I was extremely nervous. We skated out of an oil derrick in Edmonton, and I just remember I didn't want to fall and take that thing out," said Sestito with a laugh.

 

"My first shift, I think I had a hit. That was probably the quickest game of my life, it seemed like it was over in about ten minutes. But it was something that I enjoyed and I'm glad I got to experience that."

 

But Sestito only got that one NHL game with the Oilers before being sent down, where he remained for the rest of the season. That off-season, he was dealt to the Devils for a conditional draft pick.

 

"I was excited to come to an organization like the Devils, especially being an American," Sestito said.

 

"Not that I felt out of place in Edmonton, but they're a hardcore Canadian city, so it was nice to come back to the States. This is a first-class organization. They gave me a shot. I was an undrafted guy traded here to maybe just help out the minor leagues a little bit, and I played well enough to get a call, and they gave me an opportunity. I thought I was more slotted for the American League off the bat, but the good thing about being traded is nobody has any preconceived notions. I was one of the last cuts in camp, and that goes to show that they're an organization that doesn't care about where you were drafted or where you're from. If you're playing well, you're going to get the call, and that's good to be a part of."

 

Sestito's teammates are happy he's a part of the big club as well.

 

"He's one of those guys that brings energy," David Clarkson told ECHL.com

 

"He works hard every shift and I think he's been a great addition for us. He plays tough every night and he does those little things that you expect of a guy like that. I think, knowing him pretty well, he's just a great guy in this locker room. It helps everything out when you're that type of person in the room and you work that hard on the ice. It shows some of the young guys what it takes to be here."

 

Added Sykora: "He's great, the way he skates. He only gets a chance to play on the third and fourth lines, but he's doing the job. He's throwing around some big hits and really creating some big forechecks for us. I think so far, he's been great."

 

But Sestito knows that to continue to have an opportunity at the game's highest level, he has to continue to work hard to earn his playing time.

 

"Everybody knows we just had one of the best centers in the league come back, so that shifts everybody down a little bit," he said.

 

"I think I'm at a point where I'm an older guy, so I know how to prepare and keep myself in shape so I can be called upon. Whether it's sitting a couple games here and there or four or five, I think I can bring the same energy. I don't know if I'm necessarily going to go down and develop into a 40 or 50 goal scorer at this point in my career, so I think they know what they have in me, and they know that I'm professional enough to prepare and be ready."

 

+Photo courtesy Getty Images

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