Freshman forward Peter DiLiberatore skated the puck into the defensive zone of RPI. He stopped and fired a pass across the blue line to his defensive partner, senior defenseman and captain Chase Priskie.
Priskie didn’t tee up his go-to slap shot. Instead, he stuck to the wrist shot and slung a shot on net, beating RPI junior goaltender Linden Marshall on the blocker side.
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[/media-credit]While the goal put the Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team up 3-0 in the game on Friday night, it also engraved Priskie into Quinnipiac history.
With his tally, his seventh on the year and his 29th career goal, Priskie surpassed Dan Ennis (‘03) for the Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey Division I record for career goals by a defenseman. Despite the great achievement, Priskie kept to his humble self when asked about the recognition.
“It’s great to be in the record books, but at the same time it’s the players that I’ve been able to play with for the last four years,” Priskie said. “Without them, a lot of those goals don’t happen and I can’t give enough praise to the guys I’ve been able to play with that have been able to get me the puck in the right situations. I’ve been able to do the easy part. I just try to come in and do whatever I can to help the team win.”
While Priskie praised his teammates, they were the ones that were giving all the credit to him.
“He is very humble,” senior forward and assistant captain Scott Davidson said. “He knows that he’s put the work in, so I think that’s where he’s at. He is proud, but he shows the humble side. That’s why he plays the way he does, because he knows he does that extra stuff to play that way.”
Priskie has made a big presence since he arrived at Quinnipiac as a freshman. His first year, he scored four goals and tallied 22 assists, which gave him 26 points that ranked third among freshmen in ECAC Hockey. He was also named to the 2015-16 ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team.
The summer going into his sophomore campaign, Priskie was drafted in the sixth round by the Washington Capitals in the 2016 NHL Draft. He backed that up with seven goals and 19 assists and an ECAC Hockey Third Team selection in the 2016-17 season.
In Priskie’s junior year, he was given the captain patch, making him the first junior to be named a captain since 2010-11. He scored a career-high 11 goals and 14 assists, putting him third on the team in points and tied for third with goals.
In his final season in a Bobcat uniform, Priskie has been one of the big reasons as to why the team is off to a 7-2-0 start. He is first on the team in goals (seven) and points (11), and in terms of the conference, is tied for first in goals and tied for fourth with points. His performance has certainly been recognized, as Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold has said on multiple occasions that Priskie has been the team’s best player, and that the honor seems like a right fit for Priskie.
“I didn’t know what the record was, I didn’t know where [Priskie] was, I didn’t know if he was even close,” Pecknold said. “But it makes sense to me. He’s been that good, he’s that consistent. And he’s a goalscorer.”
With Priskie and the team currently focusing on the upcoming weekend with games against Cornell and Colgate, Priskie said he believes the honor is something that he will reflect on once he no longer dons the blue and gold.
“I’ll probably think about it more when I’m done [at Quinnipiac] and I hang my jersey up for the last time,” Priskie said. “As of right now, I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help the team win games.”
