Milano announces the signing of Italo-Canadian defenseman Chad Pietroniro, who will make his ICE Hockey League debut in the prime of his career, having accumulated 68 goals, 70 assists and a plus/minus of +37 in 207 games in the Alps Hockey League with Asiago, Merano and Cortina.
Born in Montreal on July 8, 1996, Pietroniro (180 cm, 86 kg, shoots right) is one of the most versatile profiles in the Italo-Canadian hockey scene: a utility player who has covered several roles throughout his career and who joins coach Shedden's project as reinforcement for the defensive corps.
His arrival in the city carries the feel of a homecoming: his father Marco Pietroniro is an important figure in Milan's hockey history on the rossoblù side, a protagonist and captain on the Agorà ice in the 1990s, likewise known for the positional versatility that Chad has inherited. A true family tradition: Chad is the second of five hockey-playing brothers whose careers have frequently crossed paths.
Raised in the Quebec junior system, Pietroniro spent his junior career across the QMJHL, USHL and QJHL — which he won with the Terrebonne Cobras — before embarking on a professional journey that took him through five different countries. He made his Italian debut in 2017-18 with Asiago, making 2 appearances for the team that won the Alps Hockey League title. He went on to play two further seasons at the club across Alps and Serie A, capped by the Italian championship title in 2020 — including a goal in the decisive game. That same year came his national team call-up and a move to Cortina as a defenseman. In 2021-22 he crossed to France with the Scorpions de Mulhouse in the Ligue Magnus, before an Atlantic round-trip that saw him play in the ECHL with the Newfoundland Growlers, Maine Mariners and Trois-Rivières Lions, and then in the British league with the Cardiff Devils.
In 2024 came the return to Italy: first with Merano, then last season back at Cortina, where he closed with 19 goals and 6 assists in 48 appearances and a Supercup winner's medal. He will wear number 47 for Milano.
