How special was it to win the state championship as a junior in 2011 with Connetquot High School, and what lessons did you learn? "High school hockey on Long Island isn’t as big as a lot of other areas, but it was something special. We had worked for it all year. I was a leader on that team and wore a letter (captain’s C) that year (and senior year). The entire year I played to the best of my ability and helped out the younger guys and some of the guys who weren’t as experienced with hockey in general.
"As for lessons, work ethic has stayed with me my entire career, whether it was high school, travel, junior or college. Nothing is ever given to you on a silver platter; you have to earn everything, every opportunity. That’s what’s stayed with me my whole life. I’ve always had to earn my ice, and that’s continued with me to this day."
What was it like to play with Nesconset native Rob O’Gara (’16) at Yale University for three seasons? "Rob and I were close growing up. We worked out together since we were 12 years old once we could start lifting weights. We live a town over from one another. It was really special. I was fortunate to enjoy four years at Yale and enjoy a good career there. The academics as well as the experiences I took away from those four years I will always cherish and carry with me for the rest of my life."
Hockey players love to give credit to other people. With that in mind, you became the youngest player and first sophomore to win the Malcolm G. Chace Award (given annually to the player who best exemplifies leadership and the traditions of ice hockey at Yale). Who do you credit for teaching you about leadership? "It’s cliché but my parents have always preached responsibility and character, everything that the award represents. Again, another cliché, but there were very good leaders from the classes before me at Yale, and throughout my junior career as well when I played in Dubuque (USHL) and St. Louis (NAHL). And our coaches deserve credit, too. When I got to Yale our coaches instilled habits in us from day one and told us how to carry ourselves around the rink, around the surrounding areas, how to treat people, to come to the rink every day with a smile on, and to be ready to put on the work boots and work. I owe that award to everybody who’s been involved in my hockey career."
What impressed you the most about the Worcester Railers and what was your communication like with general manager and head coach Jamie Russell? "I had known that I wanted to play pro hockey after college ever since I was little. Playing professional hockey was a goal I wanted to achieve. I had first gotten the contact with the coach through Kyle McKenzie. I had played in Dubuque with Kyle, who had just signed with Worcester after playing at Providence College. He reached out to me and asked me if there was any interest in talking to the coach about coming to Worcester. I said, ‘Listen, I don’t really know much about it, but I’ll look into it. I’ll talk to my advisor and see what he thinks.’
"That opened the line of communication and it was a relationship that built from there. Coach is great. He sounded as if he had his head going in the right direction in terms of where he wanted to take the organization. Plus, it being a first-year organization in the ECHL, Coach was able to pick players who he wanted to try to build a team that could win. It’s a great opportunity for me to start my professional hockey career here, and I’m really excited for hockey to be back in Worcester."
What is your earliest hockey memory? "I was 3 years old, and I remember my cousin (Jake Pisano), who’s a year older than me, had just started skating. We are close, so my mom (Lori) brought me to the rink to watch him skate, and I told my mom that was something I wanted to do. The next week she brought me to the rink and I started playing, and it took off from there. My cousin didn’t follow through with it, but I did."
Growing up, who were some of your favorite players to watch and what was your favorite team? "I was a huge New York Islanders fan and Alexei Yashin was an Islander at the time, so I watched him. My dad (Ernest), when he was younger, went to a ton of games; he’s from Nassau County. He was into hockey in the 1980s when Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier played during the dynasty. My dad told me about them and they were always around the rinks on Long Island, either coaching youth hockey or just watching the kids play, so I met them a couple times. I always looked up to those guys."
Do you have a memorable story from when you met one of them? "It’s funny; we were walking into the rink one day when I was 7. The rink was in a separate part of the building — you had to walk through the YMCA area and then walk outside to get to the rink. My dad and I crossed paths with someone and my dad said, ‘I’m pretty sure that was Mike Bossy who just walked by.’ He went back and said hello and asked, ‘Sir, are you Mike Bossy?’ He replied, ‘Yes, I am.’ Then we started talking to him for a little bit. It was cool being that young and being able to talk to a guy who has such great experience playing in the NHL."
Key Facts
Teams: Worcester Railers (ECHL); Yale University
Hometown: Ronkonkoma, N.Y.
Pos.: Left Wing | Shoots: Left | Size: 6-2, 225 | Age: 24
Notable: Scored the first GWG in Railers’ history in the club’s inaugural game Oct. 14 vs. Manchester. Spent past four campaigns with Yale (2013-17), totaling 72 points (30-42-72) in 128 games. As a senior, he skated in 31 games, recording 21 points (10-11-21) and earning the John Poinier Award as the best defensive player on the team. With the Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL) in 2012-13, he had 60 points (30-30-60) in 64 games and 12 points (4-8-12), including the Clark Cup championship-winning goal.
Favorites
Food: Chicken
Pregame meal: "Grilled chicken, a little bit of pasta, some veggies and salad."
Vacation spot: "I don’t go on many of those, but I’ll say Cancun, Mexico, since I went there once."
Movie: "My Cousin Vinny"
TV show: "Gossip Girl"
Actor/actress: Brooklyn Decker
Musician: Carrie Underwood
Sport other than hockey: "I’m not very good at it but I just started picking up golf."
Non-hockey athlete: "My parents might kill me — Tom Brady. We are New York Jets fans."
Moment of your career: "We won two Ivy League championships and earned a lot of accolades at Yale. We made the NCAA tournament twice. We played at Madison Square Garden. We played in a lot of different ECAC rinks, including Quinnipiac’s, which was always fun; we had a big rivalry. My best moment, though, was in junior with Dubuque. We made it to the Clark Cup final, and in Game 4 in Fargo, North Dakota, I scored the game-winning goal in overtime, which sealed the series and the championship for us."
Equipment
Helmet: "Now I wear CCM. I wore Bauer in college and CCM and Cascade before that."
Stick: "Currently I use CCM; we’ll see how I adjust to that."
Skates: Bauer | Gloves: CCM
