Junior hockey: Jared Crespo prepping for Penn State future in Green Bay

Green Bay Gamblers captain Jared Crespo (Eastampton Township, N.J.) is a PSU commit. (Cormac McInnis/Green Bay Gamblers)

Ask coaches how they’d describe Jarod Crespo and the word that comes back the most is “reliable.”

Andrew Will, Crespo’s former coach at Salisbury School in Connecticut, correctly guessed that Pat Mikesch, Crespo’s current coach with the Green Bay Gamblers, would use the same word when talking about the defenseman.

“You knew what you were going to get,” Will said. “That’s such an appreciated commodity by coaches, but also teammates. They knew he was going to bring it night in and night out as a leader on our team. That helped raise those expectations.”

Crespo’s consistency has helped him stand out both on the ice and in the locker room in his second full season in the USHL. He’s taken on more minutes and contributes on both ends of the ice, tallying six assists in 13 games so far.

A Penn State commit, Crespo (Eastampton Township, N.J.) says he learned how to have the right mindset while at Salisbury. It’s helped him move on to the next play after mistakes and stay level-headed.

“Everyone has their ups and downs. Not every game is going to go perfect,” Crespo said. “That’s kind of how I’ve lived my whole life and career, just hard work and not getting too up or too down on anything.”

Though he first started skating when he was 3, Crespo didn’t fall in love with hockey right away. He initially played house-level hockey with his brother, Jacob, because his parents wanted him too. When he started playing travel hockey around 8 years old, however, Jarod started to really gravitate toward the ice.

“I fell in love with just being at the rink and having a purpose to every day. That was kind of my big thing,” Crespo said. “I was a little bored. I wanted a reason to work hard at something, and that’s what hockey turned into.”

It didn’t take long for Crespo to turn heads, as he verbally committed to Penn State in 2016 before he was 15 years old. A few years later, the former New Jersey Avalanche skater traveled north to compete in the NEPSAC with Salisbury.

Crespo totaled seven goals and 25 assists in two seasons with the Knights. As a captain in the 2019-20 campaign, Crespo helped Salisbury win the NEPSAC Stuart/Corkery championship.

Will says Crespo was a skater who played in all situations due to his versatility.

“Jarod is a big, strong, mobile defenseman who plays with an edge but also has the ability to contribute in the offensive end of the rink,” Will said. “He’s got excellent mobility, he’s got good instincts for jumping up in the play and looking to be that fourth man up the ice and create those offensive situations. … He was really the backbone of our ‘D’ core for the two years he was here.”

Crespo credits the coaching staff at Salisbury with making him a two-way threat. He was a forward until Will moved the 5-foot-11, 190-pound skater to the back line.

Maybe just as important, Crespo notes that the structured environment at Salisbury helped him blossom as a leader. He quickly learned to treat each of his teammates individually in order to get the most out of them.

“Being in and out of the rink at the same time every day, as a leader it pushed me to stay on top of all the guys,” Crespo said. “We were together 24/7, so it was a little easier that way. I learned from there how to lead a locker room and get everyone excited to play and be able to practice every day.”

The Gamblers ended up spending the 105th pick in the 2018 USHL draft on Crespo before he had even played for the Knights. After playing a total of seven games for Green Bay while enrolled at Salisbury, Crespo fully joined the program for the 2020-21 season.

Mikesch says Crespo has developed as expected, with his stint at Salisbury preparing him well for the jump to the USHL. By the end of that season, Crespo had earned a key role behind a strong defensive core. He finished his first full year with eight points in 35 appearances.

“He excels in all facets,” Mikesch said. “We always talk about trying to be a predictable player, and he is. He understands his role, he can chip in offensively with a really strong shot, but he doesn’t try to force offense. He understands that he’s going to be very responsible in his own end as well.”

Crespo knew he’d be relied on more this season, so he spent the offseason focusing on his conditioning. Always a strong kid, Crespo worked to improve his speed while maintaining muscle mass. Now he’s quicker and can comfortably play 20 minutes a night.

Not only is Crespo in great shape, he also was named team captain before this season. Mikesch says Crespo’s attention to detail sets a great example for everyone else in the program.

“He’s an easy player to follow because of his personality,” Mikesch said. “He was already setting an example off the ice on how to take care of yourself and get in the weight room. It was natural for our younger players to gravitate to him even last year.”

Will echoes Mikesch’s sentiments on Crespo’s work ethic and leadership. The head coach notes Crespo isn’t afraid to have difficult conversations with teammates when there’s an issue, or when the team needs to regroup after a bad period.

That’s usually a job left for coaches, but Will says when it comes from a player, the message tends to hit home harder.

“He’s a guy who expected a lot of himself and pushed himself to set the standard,” Will said. “We used to call him a warrior here. You just knew he was going to do everything he could to give ourselves a chance to win night in and night out. … He had the respect of his teammates but also a maturity to be able to address guys when they weren’t meeting expectations.”

After this season in Green Bay, Crespo will suit up for Penn State in the Big Ten. He signed his National Letter of Intent this November, joining a Nittany Lions program that enjoyed multiple winning seasons before a sub-.500 campaign last season.

Before he was even a high schooler, Crespo could tell the team’s culture was one he wanted to be a part of. He said everyone at PSU is all in, both in the locker room and on campus.

Crespo is thrilled to get to Happy Valley and bring his consistency and leadership to another top-notch program.

“When your culture is good, everyone’s ready to work and everyone works harder and pushes everything forward,” Crespo said. “I’m excited to get to a culture where I’ll be pushed every day and keep pushing myself forward.”

This article appears in the November/December print edition of the New York Hockey Journal.