Italy's captain Nadia Mattivi is only two games into her PWHL career with the Montreal Victoire. The big defender is soaking up every lesson as she finds her way in a city where she already feels at home.
As she walked into her first PWHL media scrum, Nadia Mattivi introduced herself and shook hands with every reporter at practice on Tuesday morning.
And in Montreal, after the team has played on the road for a full week, it meant a lot of handshakes.
To those who followed her career, this is not surprising. This is type of person she is.
Born in Italy, Mattivi has been captain almost everywhere she's played. She captained the Italian U-18 national team for three straight years. Of the five years she played with Boston University, she was captain for her final two seasons. And just recently, she captained Team Italy to the quarter finals at her first Olympic Games.
In Mattivi, Montreal also got the 2025 SDHL’s Defender of the Year, as well as 2025 World Championship (D1B) Best Defender.
“I think I can really bring a lot of offence to the team from the back, and I think that's always been my strength,” explained Mattivi. “Shooting the puck, creating lanes and creating offence from the blue line, I think that's something I can bring. And obviously the physicality aspect too, whether it's in the D zone, or maintaining a good gap. Those are probably the main things that I'm hoping to bring eventually.”
Montreal Over Boston
The 5-foot-10 defender was a coveted player, as many PWHL teams were interested in signing her as soon as her season in Sweden ended. Mattivi could have been a top 20 draft pick in June, but because she declared herself for the 2024 draft, she didn’t have to be drafted to play in the PWHL.
Boston, where she played college hockey, was one of teams interested, and of course Montreal, where she trained with Team Italy many times over the past two years called as well. And that last fact ended up shifting her final decision.
“I think we all became very familiar with Montreal as a city and the center, not only for centralization, but previous camps as well,” Mattivi said. “I feel like I've been in and out of here for the past two, three years. I was very familiar with the people working here, the center, the city. And obviously it affected my decision making process.”
And because she spent time in Montreal, it’s not like she doesn’t know anybody on the team.
“I went to school with Tamara Giaquinto. We spent four years together at Boston University,” Mattivi said. “Obviously, I've trained with some of them. I met Marie-Philip Poulin a couple times, you know, with the BU connection and being here in the summer, too.”
To be playing for Montreal is special for Mattivi, but just to play in the PWHL after such an incredible season, especially with Team Italy at the Olympics, is the best way to finish her campaign.
“I think it's been such an incredible season already for the Italian national team and for me as a player. So, being able to finish my season in the best league in the world and doing it here in Montreal, obviously you're super excited and whenever you can extend your season, you know you're happy as a player. And to do it here, it was just the cherry on top.”
Finding The Positive
Mattivi joined the Victoire on the road and played her first two games in Minnesota and Detroit, not the easiest way to start with a new team.
“I think it's always hard to come into a new team, especially at this level, a team that has already been through a lot together. So you just try to come in and keep things simple, honestly. Like go on the ice, try to adapt to the systems, try to get to know the players and the way they play as quickly as possible," she said. "I had one practice before my first game, so I just went into the game trying to be as efficient as possible and keeping things simple. Obviously you're a competitor, you always want to achieve more. So hopefully in the next couple of games I'll be able to do more my thing, you know, and maybe like skate the puck a little bit more, shoot it a little bit more and kind of like adapt my style of play to this team.”
In her first two games, Mattivi didn’t play as much as she was accustomed to with Lulea HF and Team Italy. She played eight minutes against Minnesota and only four minutes against New York.
Still, she tries to make the most out of every opportunity she’s given and her answer proves the kind of leader she is.
“I'm the kind of player that always tries to see the positive in things, and I think being in that position, you know, I think it just adds to your toolkit as a leader as well, and now I know how it feels and how hard it can be sometimes to stay in the game, whereas maybe before I didn't really fully realize it. So whenever I'll be in a position where I'll play more and I'll see someone else in my position, I think it will just add a lot of perspective, which I think it's an incredible thing. I think you always try to grow as a person and as a player, so I'm just happy to be here, honestly, whether I play four minutes, eight minutes or 20, it's just an incredible experience, and I'm trying to soak it all in and learn as much as possible.”
Depending On The Style Of Game
Asked about her new player and Mattivi's early usage, Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie explained that it depends what kind of game the team is having.
“She’s obviously a big body that can contribute to our game defensively, offensively, just depending on the style of game that we're in," said Cheverie. "It was like two very different games. One game where we have the lead, we're playing more our style, more our standard. And then in the second one, we didn't feel like we had our standard or our style until halfway through. And when that happens, you deploy your troops in different ways."
"For us, we were trying to kind of get the momentum back on our side and putting players in a position to try to stop their momentum and create momentum for us. It might not be fair to put a new player in that position. She'll continue to get games, she'll continue to get ice time as she continues to grow and, and learn this style of game and at this pace.“
What Will Happen When Ambrose Comes Back?
Mattivi could develop to be as high as a top four defender if Montreal gives her ice time to develop.
That said, Mattivi won’t be playing every game with Montreal until the end of the season, as the World Championships Division 1 tournament begins April 12 running to April 18 in Hungary, something the CBA allows players to go to.
Team Italy will try to win gold medal against countries such as France, China, and Slovakia, and Mattivi will be an huge part of that squad. Therefore, she could be missing two or three games with Montreal, before coming back to end the season and for playoffs.
Decisions will also have to be made on the back end, especially with Erin Ambrose’s imminent return. Cheverie said on Tuesday that her star player “is in the running to be able to play” tonight against Vancouver, although nothing has been announced.
Including Ambrose, Montreal has eight defenders under a standard contract. Upon her return, one of them will need to be placed on the reserve list.