Hard work goes a long way in paving the future for a hockey player.

The hours spent on the ice are innumerable in a given season for a major junior hockey player, though some spend more time on the ice than others. Those players usually end up with a longer career as a reward for the hard work they put in during their younger years.

Left wing Anthony Cortellessa, who was acquired by the Erie Otters in a mid-December trade from the Windsor Spitfires, is usually one of the first players on the ice for practice and one of the last players to leave.

Cortellessa studiously watches video almost daily to critique his own performances in an effort to improve his play, parallel to his strong marks in the classroom that earned him OHL Academic Player of the Month honors in November while with the Spitfires.

With whatever spare time Cortellessa has left, he’ll usually be seen working out. The results have been impressive, finishing first as a 16-year-old in fitness testing with the Spitfires at their 2010 training camp (ahead of future NHLers Ryan Ellis and Zack Kassian) and third as a 17-year-old in the following year.

It should come to no surprise that future Hall of Fame center Joe Sakic is Cortellessa’s hockey idol, as Sakic was noted for his strong work ethic during an impressive NHL career with the Quebec Nordiques and Colorado Avalanche.

Although Cortellessa has a goal and three assists in 16 games with the Otters, he’s been a vital part of the penalty kill and has shown he’s willing to do anything to help his new team.

“I kind of bring a lot of speed,” Cortellessa said. “Despite my smaller stature I bring a lot of physical play and intensity to the game, going hard to the corners, crashing the net and that sort of thing.”

Cortellessa has impressed his teammates and coaches with his work ethic, taking full advantage of an opportunity to go further in his hockey career.

When Cortellessa was up for the 2010 OHL Priority Selection, he had deeply considered going the NCAA route. As a result, Cortellessa fell to the tenth round, where he was selected by the then back-to-back Memorial Cup champion Spitfires.

After impressing the staff in Windsor during training camp, he signed an OHL contract in September 2010 and thus, gave up his NCAA eligibility.

What happened in the following year may not have been ideal for Cortellessa’s development. He saw just four games with the Spitfires, and as a result of rosters being set throughout most of the Junior A ranks, he played in 26 games with the Oakville Blades and Georgetown Raiders of the OJHL.

With only 30 games under his belt during his 16-year-old season, Cortellessa hoped to improve in the following campaign. While Cortellessa cracked the Spitfires lineup at the start of the 2011-2012 season, he saw very limited ice time in 31 games.

Fast forward to December, when Cortellessa was traded to the Otters. Although the Otters are not playoff bound, Cortellessa has seen his ice time increase by a vast amount, allowing him to showcase what he’s able to do on the ice.

“I like having a bigger role on the team and it’s always good to be on the ice,” Cortellessa said. “That’s (when) you’re having all the fun of playing and helping the team. Hopefully, I can contribute and we’ll continue doing well.”

While some may expect a move to the United States to be a big adjustment for Cortellessa, it has been a very smooth transition thanks to old friends already on the Otters roster.

Cortellessa was part of the talented Toronto Marlboros minor midget team that featured many top prospects for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, including Oshawa Generals forward Scott Laughton and Guelph Storm defenseman Matt Finn. Also on the team were future Otters Adam Pelech and Connor Brown, both great prospects in their own right.

The relationship between Cortellessa, Pelech and Brown extends from before their time on the Marlboros, making it seem like old times for one of the newest Otters in Erie.

“I was playing with Connor and Adam even before the Marlies, for about nine years,” Cortellessa said. “We’ve known each other for a while and that’s (the) kind of relationship that always stays with you. Moving over here wasn’t even like moving away again. It almost feels more like home than anything else.”

Cortellessa was the first player to join the Otters as part of their rebuild, and was able to play with Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Greg McKegg prior to his trade to London for Dane Fox and Troy Donnay.

The three weeks spent with McKegg and some of the veterans in Erie proved to be a good lesson for the young Cortellessa, who looked to follow the example set by the former captain.

“(McKegg) was drafted high into the NHL and puts up a whole lot of points in the OHL,” Cortellessa said. “It’s good being able to see how someone like that performs in a game and even in practice watching their intensity and how focused they are in everything (that) they do. The main thing that I learned is their attention to detail.”

Attention to detail is also something that could describe Otters head coach Robbie Ftorek, whom Cortellessa praised as a great teacher of the game.

“Robbie’s a great coach,” Cortellessa said. “He’s always working with you on little things and he puts a lot of time thinking about every little detail of the game and stuff you wouldn’t usually think about. Such as the way your stick is facing or the way you would start your stride. Those are all the things that he notices and gets you to correct. Little things like that end up making a big difference and that’s what I appreciate the most about Robbie.”

The improvements have been noticeable in each game for Cortellessa, who has been on a line with second-year forwards Mac McDonnell and Luke Cairns for three weeks.

The team has also improved, even though the record may not show it. In the eight games after the trade deadline on January 10, the average goal differential in Otters games is 1.5 goals, exactly half of the average of three from the games played before the trade deadline.

The humble Cortellessa credited his teammates for their continuing development and believes that the youthful Otters, who have ten rookies and three more playing their first season in the OHL, are starting to come together in the second half of the season.

“The guys are working hard,” Cortellessa said. “We’re getting more offensive ability going and at the same time we’re playing better in our own zone. (Ramis Sadikov) has been playing amazing (in) saving almost 40 or 50 shots a game. (Devin) Williams really stepped up big in Sudbury for us too. I think that kind of set the foundation for us and we’ve been playing a lot better. It’s really good to see.”

With 21 games left to play in the season, the rest of the year is a tryout for some of the young players for 2012-2013. The ice time most of them are putting in now is beneficial for the future, and as the rest of the league gets younger, the Otters will suddenly become older once the new season begins in September.

“I think we’re going to be a completely new team next year,” Cortellessa said. “This year, we have a whole lot of rookies, me included. I think the experience that a lot of us are getting is good, especially with the amount of ice time because our team is so young. Next year, we’ll be a lot more prepared for the season and I think we’ll be a playoff team.”