The Illinois State Redbirds welcome Joseph D’Alessandro to the family! D’Alessandro, a 5’11” 186 lb. defender hails from Elmhurst, IL. Last season, he played for Chicago Fury AAA. He has 5 goals, 22 assists and 27 points in his 54 games played.

D’Alessandro is looking forward to attending Illinois State with his friends and continuing his hockey career. He currently is undecided about his major. His parents have continued to be his biggest supporters.

D’Alessandro’s favorite coach is Ron Zaker. He says that Zaker was a great coach who taught him about having a team attitude and about leadership at a young age.

One of his best hockey memories is winning the state championship in 2019. D’Alessandro’s biggest play of his career was the overtime winner against the Dallas Stars Elite in the playoffs.

If D’Alessandro could be any animal, he would choose a wolf. ”Wolf” he says ”because it’s a strong animal that runs with its pack”. He is an only child and his food of choice is chicken wings.

D’Alessandro is most excited about starting the hockey season and getting to know all of the guys on the team.

“Joseph brings quality depth to our back end. Our young D-core just got better. We’ve learned first hand this last season that depth is important. Joseph will provide us with another quality option and future growth with our young players. We look forward to having him and the D’Alesandro family on board!” – Coach Bobby DiNardi

The Redbirds are building to make a run at their first ACHA D1 conference title in 2020-21 playing in the Midwest College Hockey conference. It is the second year of the conference in ACHA D1. For more information on the conference, click here.

If you are interested in playing for Illinois State, we encourage you to fill out our Recruit form on our website. Your next opportunity to see the Redbirds on the ice is July 10th-11th for the 6th Annual Red-White Cup! Look for Prospect Camps coming in June.