Spain student Nico Mugica of Portsmouth hockey goes from hockey rookie to 'star of show'

PORTSMOUTH — Getting on the ice for a regular-season game was never really in the plans for Nico Mugica this season with the Portsmouth/Newmarket High School boys hockey team.

Having never been on skates before is a primary reason. That didn't stop Mugica, a Spanish exchange student spending his senior year of high school at Portsmouth, from wanting to be the team as a goalie.

The closest thing to ice hockey Mugica had experienced in his native country was roller skating.

"(Mugica) came to the first meeting, and said he had played roller hockey in Spain and that he wanted to give goalie a try," Portsmouth head coach Joel Brown said. "He was just hoping to make the team and practice with us. And since he had never been on skates before, ever, I told him let's see how you can skate. If he could skate, then we could have him practice with us, but he was never get to play. I pretty much told him he wasn't playing."

And Mugica's response?

"He said as long as he's able to practice and be part of the team then he (would be) fine with that," Brown said.

"The first day, I remember saying to coach, 'I know I'm not going to play because there were two other goalies better than me, and I had never played hockey before,'" Mugica said. "And they told me, 'You're not going to play obviously, but you can go to practice.' That was my goal — to practice."

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Brown recalled Mugica's first practice in goal.

"From day one, (Mugica) didn't know how to play net, the equipment was brand new to him, he had never skated before but he took shots," Brown said. "He went right to the net immediately on day one and people were firing shots at him, and he was trying to save them."

Soon those practice shots turned into game shots.

First game, first win

Due to injuries to Portsmouth's top two goalies, Mugica was the last man standing and it was time for him to make his varsity and ice hockey debut late in January against Goffstown.

"I was so nervous," Mugica said. "They told me (Goffstown) wasn't as good as other teams that we faced, so I knew I had a chance to win that game. I started thinking about my glove motions and, and my glove motions were good."

Mugica said the first period went so well that when the second period rolled around, he wasn't nervous at all.

Portsmouth entered the game on a six-game losing streak, allowing roughly six goals a game. Goffstown entered the game with a record of 4-2-2 and averaged just under four goals a game.

Though it was Mugica's first time playing goal, those numbers flipped as Mugica helped the ClipperMules snap their losing streak and skate off with a 2-1 win.

It was the fewest amount of goals allowed in the season up to that point for the ClipperMules, and was the fewest amount of goals scored in a game for Goffstown.

"The entire team played very well, but Nico was the star of the show," Portsmouth junior forward Johnny Forrest said. "He had multiple huge saves that kept us in the game. It was a low-scoring game, so props go to (Nico)."

Ecstatic with his performance, Mugica picked up the phone that night and called home.

"When we won I was so happy, it was so good," Mugica said. "All the people from the school were there, that was so nice. My host family was there. It was good for the team and good for me. I was also the MVP for my team. I called my parents to tell them that."

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Mugica added, "(My parents) were obviously happy and so proud of me. The next day, all of my family, like my uncles and aunts called me."

"It was amazing," Brown said of Mugica's performance. "He made a lot of good saves. He was just so excited to be part of the team and to be in the net. The kids played well in front of him, and that was part of it. They really wanted to do well for him and stop as many shots as they could."

Locker room presence

As much of a treasure Mugica's presence has been on the ice, Brown, Forrest and the rest of the ClipperMules enjoy Mugica the person just as much.

"(Mugica) handles every situation with a smile and a laugh, and he's just a really great personality ... he's always positive" Brown said.

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Forrest said Mugica just has a good vibe about him and is always happy, and in the locker room, Mugica will sometimes play the pregame music.

"He plays a lot of Spanish music and he's always dancing to the Spanish music and it gets us pumped up before a big period," Forrest said. "Everyone just loves to be with him, he just has that certain type of energy."

"I like it so much," he said. "The group is pretty good, we have a pretty good team. And since the first day, I've felt that I was part of the team and that's felt pretty good. And now that I am actually playing, I can feel the experience of the rink."

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth hockey exchange student from Spain having great rookie year