RoughRiders’ Gosiewski has parents to thank for living American Dream

CEDAR RAPIDS — Matt Gosiewski and his family are a political commercial. Sorry if you've had your fill of those.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders player is a potential National Hockey League draft pick this spring. He will attend and play college hockey at Harvard, as prestigious a university as you'll find.

And he has had all of these opportunities in his young life because of the sacrifice his parents made. Their decision to chase the American Dream.

Agnes and Ziggy Gosiewski left their homes in Obritky, Poland, at the age of 18 to come to the United States. They spoke no English, knew only a couple of family members who already had come to live in New Britain, Conn.

'A lot of Polish people emigrate there,' said Matt Gosiewski, who had a power-play goals as the RoughRiders toppled Madison, 3-0, Friday night at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. 'It was just for opportunity. They came here with $10 in their pockets. My mom worked for a vending machine company, and my dad worked for a contractor for like five, 10 years.'

They eventually quit their jobs to establish their own construction company, One World Construction, Inc., in Wilton, Conn. Their oldest son, Kamil, 22, graduated from Quinnipiac College in Connecticut and has a marketing job.

Matt is doing what he's doing in Cedar Rapids: a senior at Washington High School with a world, pun intended, of hockey upside. It's quite a story.

'Yeah, it's pretty special, especially when you consider my mom and dad came over with not a lot of money,' Gosiewski said.

A 6-foot-4 forward, Gosiewski was on the recent Central Scouting Service midterm report, a sign that he might get drafted by a NHL team. He has seven goals and six assists in 37 games for the RoughRiders, who lead the United States Hockey League with 55 standings points (on a 26-10-3 record).

Cedar Rapids plays Saturday night at Dubuque.

'I think I've changed my game a lot since I've been here,' Gosiewski said. 'Before, in prep school, I was more of a perimeter guy. Coming here, I've learned how to protect the puck, play down low. Become more of a tough, grinder type of player.'

RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson said he can foresee a breakout 2016-17 season for Gosiewski. There always seems to be a guy like that in Cedar Rapids, someone who comes back a second year and establishes himself as one of the USHL's better players.

This season, that guy has been winger Ross Colton. Two years ago, it was forward Andrew Poturalski, who is second in the NCAA in scoring as a sophomore at New Hampshire and who very likely will sign a lucrative, free-agent contract with an NHL club after this season.

'When Goose gets bigger and stronger and gets another summer of training under his belt, now that he really understands it, when he moves on to college hockey, he's going to be a force. For sure,' Carlson said. 'I think he has tremendous ability. He has tremendous hands, good vision, keeps his head up, which not a lot of guys can do.

'He is really, really young in his development, with where he comes from. I just think he's a NHL prospect because of ... there's that 'potential' word, there, right? He's got to fulfill that, but there's an awful lot there.'

Gosiewski said he's not concentrated at all on the future. There's a season going on.

He took the comparison to Colton as a big compliment.

'I saw how Ross worked out in the offseason, how he got bigger and stronger,' he said. 'He's got a unique blend of skill and strength.'

By the way, Ziggy and Agnes Gosiewski were able to make the trip from Connecticut last weekend for Parents Weekend. They watched their son and his team split a pair of games with Youngstown.

Gosiewski said his mom and dad were surprised to see Iowa didn't just consist of cornfields. They're still learning about the country they chose to make home.

'A lot of people know my parents don't speak good English, but ... they don't really know how they emigrated over here and stuff,' Gosiewski said. 'When you think about it, it's a pretty good story.'

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com