Senior night is always a time for reflection; a time for people to rattle off stats about the past four years, remember big memories and pay homage to the seniors.
There are certainly big stats and even bigger memories for Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey’s Class of 2017. The gang racked up 97 wins while leading their team to three NCAA Tournaments, one NCAA Frozen Four, two Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey Cleary Cups and an ECAC Hockey Whitelaw Cup.
However, for this group of eight, which became six as the success continued to mount, it was about more than just the numbers.
“Six kids that have done a lot for our program. Great character, great students, great players,” head coach Rand Pecknold said.
Sam Anas and Devon Toews gave up their final year with Quinnipiac and continued their playing career at the next level with the Iowa Wild and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers respectively.
The two continue to excel on the ice, just like their time wearing the Bobcat crest on their chest.
For the seniors who skated today, it starts with Derek Smith: the defenseman who never feared to stand in front of a shot and became the Bobcats’ quiet leader through runs in the ECAC Playoffs and during his entire senior year. Smith will also graduate in May as one of the brightest student-athletes at Quinnipiac, standing with a 4.0 grade point average during all four years at the university.
Moving off the blue line to the face-off dot, there is Tommy Schutt. The selfless center seems to be the glue that holds the team together in tough spots.
“Schutty” continually finds the puck on his stick in big moments, whether it is lying out to block a shot, winning a key faceoff, or clearing the puck out of the Quinnipiac zone on the penalty kill.
“We have just carried it on from seniors before us. We bring a lot of heart,” Schutt said about this senior class.
Moving down the line, there is K.J. Tiefenwerth who battled serious health issues when first joining the Bobcats team. He prevailed to become a perennial playmaker for the blue and gold, seeming to always create a play behind the net to find the open man on the power play. The 5-foot-9-inch Long Islander plays like a skater that was easily six inches taller.
Then there’s Joe Fiala, the man who is known as the ultimate teammate. He usually is the first on the ice during the weekday practices and the last one off and continues to fill in on the ice for the Bobcats whenever the was an injury.
More importantly, Fiala’s role grew as his career went on as he became leader in the locker room, being the first to pick up a teammate up with a joke and smile.
That sentiment never rang truer than Saturday night where after a 4-1 victory over Brown University, Fiala came into the press conference room, still dressed in his full uniform and did what he does best: took over the room.
Compliment after compliment, Fiala made sure to recognize every teammate he has played with the past four years, each getting their own personal joke or story.
Then there are the Clifton brothers, who are often wrongly accused for the Hanson Brothers on the ice, but are some of the kindest people off the frozen sheet.
Connor Clifton, the young of the two brothers, was one of the first people I ever met at Quinnipiac, which allows me to tell one of my favorite stories.
Connor entered his freshman year at Quinnipiac after a very successful campaign with the New Jersey Hitmen and was selected by the Arizona Coyotes before ever skating for the Bobcats.
Connor was in my orientation group, so I spent roughly the first two days of college with him.
At the beginning of the second day of freshman year, I approach Clifton on the steps of the Arnold Bernhard Library, where I see he is wearing a Coyotes shirt.
Like any freshman who has just been dropped off by his parents less than 48 hours before and hasn’t really met anyone really yet, desperate to make friends, I try to spark a conversation with the fellow kid from New Jersey.
“Hey, you’re a Coyotes fan? That’s kinda weird for a kid from North Jersey,” I said, chuckling.
“I am actually drafted by them, I play on the hockey team,” Connor Clifton said back, humbly and kind of with a chuckle of his own.
I was thoroughly embarrassed, but the story was one of my favorites to tell throughout my two years watching the team from the stands and has only picked up in humor in the past two years covering the team.
Tim Clifton, his older brother, came in to Quinnipiac as an expected grinder and someone who was not going to be afraid to get in the corners.
However, Tim’s game exploded in the upcoming years, especially his junior year.
Leading a Bobcats team that only experienced four losses the entire season, Clifton struck for a career-high 19 goals during his junior year campaign.
This season, when many thought Tim would experience a slump, he held strong continuing to be an offensive force.
He will end the regular season tied for the team-lead in goals with 12, paired with ten assists, which puts him towards the top of the points table for the second straight season.
The Class of 2017 is reminder that even though the goal in every hockey program is success on the ice, that having the same level of success off the ice can leave just as strong memories.
“It’s a good group of guys I am always going to talk to,” Schutt said.
