The smile was so genuine, so full of joy and relief. Michael Dal Colle’s first NHL goal came last week in Nassau Coliseum against the Devils and he was smiling, a rare sight for a young man who hardly ever looks anything less than serious.



“Mike is one of the most stoic guys I know,” said Dan Noble, Dal Colle’s trainer since the Islanders forward was a teenager. “He’s been through some real tough shit in his life. In his mind, this isn’t adversity — this is hockey. But he also accepts the responsibility that he needed to get better.”



Even before the Islanders made Dal Colle the fifth pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, he’d understood the divide between life and sport. His older brother, Jonluca, is autistic. His mother, Wendy, battled breast cancer. To rise to the elite level of junior hockey takes a focus and commitment from every family and Dal Colle had to keep that focus while living through challenges that so...