Luke Kania went 694 days between starts in the net for Brown University. That’s right, 694.
He returned in style on Saturday night, stopping all 32 shots in a 2-0 win over Yale in the season opener for the two Ivy League rivals, who played each other for the first time in 1898. That’s right, 1898.
“It was extremely satisfying. A shutout is a team game. The guys played really well, took a lot of penalties, but our penalty kill (nine for nine) showed up. A lot of guys wore a lot of pucks and made it simple for me. It was satisfying for me, but I’m not the only one to enjoy the shutout,’’ said Kania, who is an assistant captain.
“He’s a good leader and he played very well. He gave us an opportunity to win,’’ said Brown coach Brendan Whittet.
What made Kania’s strong game extra special was that he went through so much to get back between the pipes.
The last time Kania was in the barrel for the Bears before Saturday it didn’t go well. On Dec. 6, 2019, he was pulled in the second period after giving up five goals in a loss at Union.
That was a turning point as Kania realized that he absolutely had to have surgery. He couldn’t remember a time in his college career when his hips didn’t hurt. He needed to get the labrums on both sides repaired.
“My hips just weren’t where they needed to be. It was time. It’s surgery that’s pretty common in hockey these days, hip labrums. It just got to the point where I couldn’t play at my top level,’’ said Kania, who graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering last spring and is now studying data science as a grad student.
Having the surgery turned out to be only the first step down a long road, thanks to the pandemic.
“I’ve had other injuries before where I was sidelined for months at a time and for this one I kind of had to take it day by day. But as soon as I had the surgery, I felt immediately better,’’ he said.
“As soon as I got on the ice, I think it was six to eight months after my surgery, the hips felt great. There was some rust to kick off. But obviously we had quite a bit of extra time.’’
Yes, there was a lot of time but with it came a lot of uncertainty.
As the 6-foot-2 Kania was rehabbing, Covid was wreaking havoc. The Ivy League opted not to play hockey in 2020-21, his senior year.
“The Ivy League made its decision and stuck to it. There wasn’t much we could do. The eight guys in my senior class thought that our careers were possibly over. I was at that point in the middle of the year. I pretty much didn’t know what was going to happen, didn’t know if I was going to be playing in (2021-2022).
“It was tough. I think that we all just stuck together and came together as a team – the guys that were in Providence in my class. We were in touch a lot and we just pushed through, just like everybody did in Covid. Kept pushing through and grinding.’’
After playing competitive hockey for nearly his entire life, the thought of no longer doing so was daunting.
“With everything that happened with Covid, it was kind of up and down, not knowing exactly what was going to happen. I didn’t really know if I was going to be able to return until about April or May (of 2021). So I was kind of looking toward moving on from hockey,’’ said Kania, who turns 26 in January.
That would have been a sour ending for the Chicago native, who played with an impressive array of NHLers while climbing the ladder with Chicago Mission 16U (Christian Dvorak of Montreal, Anders Bjork of Buffalo, Nick Schmaltz of Arizona) and Shattuck St. Mary’s (Clayton Keller of Arizona, Rem Pitlick of Minnesota, Ryan Lindgren of the Rangers). He also spent three seasons in the NAHL with Aberdeen and the Minnesota Wilderness.
In the end, it all worked out in his favor at Brown as the Ivy League for the first time allowed full-time grad students to compete on athletic teams.
“I’ve grown up and listened to my body a little bit more. Now I couldn’t feel any better. I’m definitely glad I made that decision (to have surgery), for my future not only as an athlete, but as a person. My hips are ready to go and my body is ready to go,’’ he said.
“I was really fortunate that I was able to come back and give it one more year. I’m just trying to enjoy every moment now. Playing hockey for 20 years, I’m really excited about having one more year to do it.’’
