Mario Ferraro is home in Toronto trying to find ways to keep busy during the NHL pause. Aside from sticking to his workout routine, the Sharks defenseman now has more time than usual to dedicate to his YouTube channel, where you’ll find very little hockey content.
The channel started when the 21-year-old Ferraro was playing with Des Moines of the USHL. What began with streaming games like first-person shooters, eight-ball pool, and the NHL series has evolved into reviewing tech products. If you’re looking for opinions on headphones, laptops or cell phones, he has them. You’ll also find non-tech videos as well as his channel evolved. Looking for a quarantine workout? You’re in luck. Want to see him avoid injury by throwing a boomerang? It’s there.
As we wait to see when hockey will return, Ferraro has plenty of time for content creation.
“I’m still trying to find new ways to entertain people on YouTube, especially during the time that we’re going through right now,” he told NBC Sports. “It’s mostly just a hobby of mine that I enjoy and developed over the past few years.”
If you’re looking for the Sharks rookie to dish on hockey, you won’t find much on the channel. Other than one question and answer session with fans, Ferraro’s decision to focus on tech is by design.
“Hockey is my number one, that comes first before everything,” he said. “I wanted to separate YouTube with hockey purposely because I feel like YouTube is a different side of me that I like to express and show people. I feel like if they want to see hockey they know where to go to watch the hockey part of things. I try to keep them separate because I’m always at the rink and I’m always training for hockey throughout the summer, whether it’s during the year I’m playing lots of games, and so my mind is always on hockey. YouTube is a way to relax myself mentally and get away from it for a bit because it’s definitely important to rest and recover before you get back at it.”
Ferraro’s tech savviness has made him the IT guy on Sharks, who found out about the channel in early October and delivered plenty of ribbing. While he still isn’t allowed to handle the dressing room music — being a rookie and all — it’s not rare for a teammate or staff member to toss a tech-related question his way.
During the season Ferraro’s publishing schedule depends on how he’s feeling. It’s obviously tougher to create when you’re busy with games, practices and travel, but now the window is wide open, and he’s hoping to use his channel to provide a small distraction.
“I feel like providing any sort of entertainment for viewers that are at home is kind of a good idea that can help them,” he said. “My goal is to put a smile on people’s faces, help lift them up in times like these. It’s a way of passing time for me. I really enjoy it. I have a lot of fun with it.”
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.