DU-bound O’Reilly has namesake’s talent
Ryan O’Reilly met Ryan O’Reilly at the American Airlines Center in 2010. The NHL center was playing for the Avalanche and the other O’Reilly, the 10-year-old, was realizing he could become a Dallas-area youth hockey star.
Eight years later, the young O’Reilly is bound to be selected in the 2018 draft at American Airlines Center. Committed to play for the University of Denver beginning for the 2019-20 season, the 6-foot-2, 201-pound power forward is ranked 58th among North American skaters.
O’Reilly, 18, is getting a lot of attention at this year’s draft because he’s Texas’ top draft-eligible player.
“I’m going to have 30-40 family members in town,” O’Reilly said. “The hockey community is really tight down here. I played with a lot of AAA age groups and will have a lot of people there. So it’s exciting.”
O’Reilly grew up playing for Dallas Stars Elite Hockey Club, which is Texas’ premier triple-A organization playing in the Tier I Elite Hockey League (14-under, 15-under, 16-under, 18-under) against the likes of midwest region rivals Colorado Rampage and Colorado Thunderbirds. O’Reilly was drafted by the Madison Capitols of the junior-A United States Hockey League and played 45 games with the team last season. Despite missing time with a leg in-
jury and mononucleosis, he contributed 21 goals and 34 points.
“He’s got some scoring ability, a nose for the net. He works hard,” said Alan Hepple, the Avalanche’s director of amateur scouting. “He probably has to work on his skating a little bit, his topend speed. But he has good hockey sense … He’s on our radar. He’s got some stuff already that we can’t teach him.”
O’Reilly didn’t hesitate to stick with his commitment in April when thenDU coach Jim Montgomery resigned to become head coach of his favorite NHL team, the Dallas Stars.
With David Carle, one of Montgomery’s assistants, taking over the Pioneers, O’Reilly knew he was in good hands.
“Jim Montgomery was the one who recruited me the most but when he left I kind of had an idea DC would get the job. I wasn’t worried at all,” O’Reilly said. “DC has the same mentality as Monty. The same pursuit of excellence is there. So DC, right now, is going to fill in his shoes. Yeah, they’re big shoes to fill but he’s the guy to get the job done. I’m going there because Denver has great academics and a rich history of winning national championships and moving guys on to the NHL.”
Back to the O’Reillymet O’Reilly story. The two are separated by nine years of age.
“When he got drafted by the Avalanche, I started following him,” O’Reilly the prospect said of the former Av. “He came to the American Airlines Center when I was 10 years old and I got down to meet him. It was definitely a cool experience. If I had an opportunity to play against him, or with him, some day would be pretty neat.”