South Carolina Stingrays forward Anthony Del Gaizo wasn’t sure he even wanted to play professional hockey.

The Basking Ridge, N.J., native had just finished his senior season at UMass-Amherst and armed with a master’s degree in finance, he thought he was ready to explore life outside of the rink.

Del Gaizo even began a half-hearted search for employment this past summer. But by the time July rolled around, he found himself back at the rink, still wanting to workout and skate.

“They say when you retire, you need to throw your hockey bag in the basement or garage and never look at it again,” Del Gaizo said. “After my career was over UMass, I wasn’t sure I wanted to play anymore. But I kept coming back to my (hockey) bag and going to the rink. I realized I still wanted to play and still had so much passion for the game.”

Besides, he figured, getting a real job could wait another year or so.

“The job market is tough, so I really wasn’t feeling that,” he said.

The Stingrays are certainly pleased that Del Gaizo decided to extend his hockey career.

Del Gazio is third on the team in points with 15 goals and 29 assists, and has an 11-game point scoring streak as the Stingrays are set to face Maine in back-to-back games starting on March 25 at the North Charleston Coliseum.

Del Gaizo’s recent offensive outburst is a major reason the Stingrays find themselves in first place in the ECHL’s South Division.

“We’ve been pleasantly surprised with Anthony’s production this season,” said South Carolina Stingrays coach Brenden Kotyk. “He works hard every day. He’s one of the first guys at the rink and one of the last to leave. He’s arguably been our top forward for the past few weeks.”

With the departure of Carter Turnbull, the team’s leading scorer, to Europe, Del Gaizo’s scoring touch has been much needed by the club. Kotyk wasn’t sure what to expect from Del Gaizo when the 5-10, 200-pound forward arrived in the Lowcountry in early October.

Del Gaizo hadn’t been a prolific scorer at UMass-Amherst. His most productive season had come during his senior year, when he finished with 17 points in 36 games.

But Del Gaizo had proven he could score at the junior level. In 2018, he had been named the USHL MVP with the Muskegon Lumberjacks when he led the league in points (72) and goals (40).

“You never know how a guy’s game will translate from college to the pros,” Kotyk said. “You can talk with the coaches and watch video and think a guy might make the jump with no problem, but until they step on the ice you’re never sure.”

At the beginning of the season, Del Gaizo wasn’t in the lineup on a consistent basis. With a talented and crowded forward group, Del Gaizo was getting limited ice time.

“There were a couple of tough conversations we have with Anthony early on,” Kotyk said. “He was putting in the work, but he wasn’t seeing the results and I knew he was getting frustrated.”

Kotyk talked to Del Gaizo about simplifying his game and that’s when things began to fall into place.

“He was trying to be a little too fancy at times,” Kotyk said. “He’d try a back-behind-the-back, no-look pass and up until then everything that he’d earned had come through hard work. Since then, he’s taking off and he’s a big reason why we are where we are in the standings.

“He’s the guy we want on the ice at the end of game because he’s going to do everything he can to help us win. He’s the kind of guy that will take a puck in the face if that’s what it takes.”

Del Gaizo knows what it takes to win a championship. As a freshman, he helped lead the Minutemen to an NCAA title.

“Anthony is a culture builder,” Kotyk said. “We brought him in to help rebuild our culture. Other guys see how hard he’s working, and they feed off of him and his work ethic.”

Del Gaizo said his success with the Stingrays has him thinking about the future, and not just in finance.

“I rediscovered my love for the game,” he said. “The organization wants to see you succeed. I want to see where this game can take me, even up the ladder of pro hockey.”