First, Ryan Hitchcock said it. Then, he did it.
After being invited to the New York Islanders’ 2017 summer rookie camp as a tryout, Hitchcock stated that his goal was to one day become a professional hockey player.
In May, following his senior season at Yale University and a tryout with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Islanders’ American Hockey League affiliate, the 22-year-old forward became one.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Hitchcock, who signed a two-year AHL contract with Bridgeport. “This being my job every day, coming to the rink and playing hockey, I won’t take a day of it for granted.”
That shouldn’t be a concern for the Manhasset, N.Y., native, who notched nine points (3-6-9) in 16 games with the Sound Tigers.
During that aforementioned camp, Hitchcock, who has a left-handed shot, used each moment to prove to himself and the Islanders that he could perform at the same level as his peers, some of whom already had National Hockey League experience.
He succeeded.
“The entire organization liked him,” said Sound Tigers head coach Brent Thompson. “At camp, he was a workhorse, a buzz saw. His hockey IQ is outstanding. He was in great support positions. He has a lot of intangibles that we got to see day to day, on and off the ice. Our scouts got to see him at Yale, where he re-emphasized those points. I love his effort and the way he comes and competes. He’s a confident kid. He’s a team guy. He’s the kind of guy you want around you.”
At the same time, Hitchcock “picked the brains of the coaches” to learn everything about hockey that he could.
His biggest takeaway?
“I had to get stronger,” Hitchcock revealed. “That was one thing the coaches stressed to me.”
In addition to adding bulk to his now 5-foot-11, 178-pound frame, he worked on hockey skills, such as his shot and skating.
“It was all going to make me a better player,” Hitchcock said. “Over time, it was going to show, and I feel that it has. But I’m going to keep working on those things to get better every day.”
His improvements showed on the scoresheet. In 31 contests with the Bulldogs during the 2017-18 campaign, he totaled 20 points (7-13-20). More importantly, he was able to play a full season for the first time since he was a freshman.
After posting 15 points (3-12-15) in 33 games in 2014-15 and being named Ivy League Rookie of the Year and winner of the Martin Dwyer III Award as Yale’s rookie MVP, Hitchcock was bitten by the injury bug each of the next two seasons. He separated his acromioclavicular joint (shoulder) as a sophomore, when he recorded 14 points (8-6-14) in 22 matches, and suffered a broken fibula as a junior, which ended his season after he had totaled 19 points (3-16-19) in 17 games.
The worst part of his latter injury wasn’t the pain. It was the timing. “I was playing some of the best hockey I ever played in my life my junior year,” Hitchcock lamented. “It was tough. Then the rehabbing and everything that went into recovering was really grueling. Plus, it hurt watching my team from the stands.”
Believe it or not, Hitchcock admitted he learned a lesson during the recovery process.
“It taught me to love the game, because when it got taken away, I missed it more than anything,” he said. “I don’t ever want to lose it again.”
His adoration for hockey — coupled with his work ethic — is why he was named captain for his senior season. It was a role perfectly suited for Hitchcock.
“Your teammates are always looking up to you,” he said. “I’m more of a lead-by-example type of person. Everyone’s got their eyes on you and the actions that you do at the rink or away from it. They want to learn from you. I’m always trying to set a good example for them and trying to make them and the overall team better.”
Hitchcock stated that the toughest challenge for him when he wore the ‘C’ was to not have bad days.
“At the rink or in the weight room or anywhere, if you take a day for granted, it might hurt the morale of the team,” he said. “If you’re sluggish, the team is going to be sluggish. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be the best I could every day.”
The captaincy was just another component of his experience at Yale that made him a better person and player. The team’s coaching staff, and the university’s combination of hockey and academics, also allowed him to improve both on and off the ice.
“They are second to none,” Hitchcock declared.
Hitchcock feels he already was a few steps ahead of other freshmen when he first set foot on campus.
He had left home at age 16 to play for the U.S. National Team Development Program, where he said he matured “pretty early.”
“Everything the NTDP does is done for a reason — to make you a better and more mature person,” Hitchcock asserted.
He also had some international experience under his belt, the most memorable moment being a gold medal-winning performance with Team USA at the 2014 IIHF U-18 World Championship, where he scored the game-winning goal against Sweden in the semifinal.
“Playing in the international tournaments was a totally different experience,” Hitchcock said. “It teaches you to adapt your game to different things. That was beneficial when I made the transition from college to pro.”
When Hitchcock arrived at Yale, he immediately found himself surrounded by “some unique and talented people.” And he doesn’t only mean on the ice.
“Whether it’s someone who’s part of the future of computer science or medicine, you’re around intelligent people, and you’re in class with them,” he said. “It makes you elevate yourself as a person. You don’t want to get embarrassed. But being around those people and trying to absorb the way they carry themselves and the knowledge was important to me.”
Hitchcock went in thinking he was going to be an economics major, but he found a passion for a different subject, and ended up majoring in political science.
One his favorite classes was an introductory course about American politics. But the “coolest, most interesting one” was a class about war strategies and some of the technologies that go into them.
That begs a question — did the war strategy class help him on the ice?
“Not really,” Hitchcock chuckled. “I guess you could say learning about the way some of the great war strategy leaders led their troops is something I took into being a captain.”
Of course, what did help Hitchcock at the rink were the lessons he learned from Bulldogs head coach Keith Allain (Worcester, Mass.).
“He’s one of the smartest guys I’ve ever met,” Hitchcock said, before taking a deep breath. “We talked a lot about me carrying myself the best I could every day so I would be a consistent person, consistent hockey player and consistent leader. He harped on me for that. To carry myself a certain way and to love coming to the rink every day was the most important thing.”
By doing that, Hitchcock earned another roster spot in an international tournament, with Team USA at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship, where the club won the bronze medal.
“To be there was really special,” he said. “It was a goal I had since I was 8, when I watched the world juniors with my dad. And to be there with a couple of my NTDP teammates and some of my best friends was an experience I’ll never forget.”
He also accomplished his main goal — to become a professional hockey player.
“The fact that playing hockey is now my singular focus and I can come to the rink and exert all my energy on this is going to make me a better player,” Hitchcock concluded. “I worked with (Islanders strength and conditioning) coach Derrek Douglas over the summer. It was a special opportunity. I’m happy to come to the rink every day. Hockey is my favorite thing in the world.”
