Hesitation and waiting for a hockey player is never ideal.
After missing three games due to an injury, Chase Priskie returned to the lineup last weekend but was not back to form completely.
“Obviously I was back last weekend in the North Country in games against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. It was kind of tough to come back, obviously being out for two weeks and taking a hit like that,” Priskie said about his return to ice. “So I was a little off mentally making those plays, it felt like I was making plays a split second behind from when I should.”
However, Priskie returned to home ice this weekend when Quinnipiac corralled two conference victories over Dartmouth and Harvard with the sophomore defenseman leading the way.
“This weekend was really good as a whole,” Priskie said. “I think our team played well and that gave me some individual success.”
Priskie dazzled Friday night, lighting up the stat sheet with three assists and a plus/minus rating of two. He followed up Friday night’s performance with an assist to freshman defenseman Brogan Rafferty to get the Bobcats out to a 1-0 lead less than 90 seconds into the game.
“We want all of our guys to play well; Chase had a good weekend,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold. “He was really effective jumping in the rush. He is obviously a very big part of our team and I thought he had a good night tonight.”
The Washington Capitals fifth-round pick’s performance came in front of two sold-out crowds at High Point Solutions Arena with one very special fan in attendance: his mother who had traveled from Pembroke Pines, Florida. It was something Priskie was not shy about admitting and it added to his level of play this weekend.
“I think there was a little more hop in my step,” Priskie said. “I try to bring that every game, try to bring the energy. I try not focus on that, I try to focus on the eighteen guys in the locker room and I think the energy we are able to create is what really gets me going.“
Priskie’s strong weekend came at a time when the Bobcats needed him to step up as a leader of a team looking for its spark on the power play and the offense as a whole. Priskie seems to have no problem filling that role.
“I think it’s really big. I think for our team, your class doesn’t really matter, it’s how you lead. Some guys lead by example, some lead by voice. I try to do a little of both,” Priskie said about being a leader. “Obviously we lost [Devon] Toews and Miner-Barron this season, those are roles I try to step up into and I try to do whatever I can to get the guys going.”
Priskie’s weekend may just be a preview of what is to come for the sophomore’s strong leadership role with the Bobcats in the coming years.
