Back at RPI, Reilly proud to get a ‘C’
NHL draftee named captain ahead of 2 Hockey East games
As he skated off the ice following RPI’S first-round series playoff loss to Yale, Will Reilly was not sure which direction his hockey career was going to lead him for the 2019-20 season.
The defenseman, taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2017 NHL draft, weighed his options before deciding to return to RPI for his senior season.
On Tuesday, Reilly was named captain for the Engineers.
“It’s great, it is a huge honor with a pretty storied program here,” Reilly said. “To be able to wear the ‘C’ for this program is great.”
The decision to return took plenty of time but Reilly is happy with his decision.
“It was a long process, to be honest with you,” Reilly said. “I was really torn on what to do, went back and forth a lot. I talked with my parents and the Pens and we felt for me, for my long-term development, it was probably best to stay here for another
year.”
With input from his players, RPI head coach Dave Smith tabbed Reilly as the captain and, based on his conversations with his team, the choice was an easy one.
“For one, he’s a hockey player. I think the fact that he chose to come back and fully committed to the team when he had a chance to go sign an NHL contract carries a lot of weight in that locker room,” Smith said. “The fact that he is a solid citizen that makes solid decisions is another factor. He truly cares about his teammates and wants to leave his legacy here. I’m taking 28 other guys’ feedback and making it a few sentences but it was near-unanimous about how they felt about him.”
After skating to a 6-3 exhibition win over Brock University last weekend, RPI kicks off the regular season with a trip to Massachusetts before facing Connecticut on Saturday.
“I thought our guys played very, very well (against Brock), they played confidently, they played together, which is really important, with a lot of composure,” Smith said.
RPI opened the 2018-19 season by dropping a pair of games to the Minutemen, the national title runner-up last season and split two games with the Huskies.
“The fact they were in the national title game last year is relevant, the fact we didn’t play well (against Umass) the first night but the next time we played them we played very well,” Smith said. “Our guys are really paying attention to the now, the now touches last year’s national title game team. There may or may not be a celebration before the game. Our job is to go in there and do our stuff against them.”
Senior winger Chase Zieky had a goal against Brock and will be counted on to be among the leaders in goals scored this season for RPI after tying for the team lead in scoring last year despite playing in just 21 of RPI’S 36 games following a transfer from Providence.
“I’m one of the guys but I think we have a bunch of others that can put the puck in the net,” Zieky said. “There are a lot of skill guys on the team that are going to help out. We’re excited, even the exhibition game we were fired up. We were tired of just playing against each other every day.”