The Endicott Gulls are ranked among the best teams in the country and are focused on the remainder of the regular season heading into the Conference of New England playoffs later this month. A Friday night showdown with league leading Curry is in clear focus for the team but tomorrow’s Senior Night will send the team’s morale soaring as Jack Smiley will return to the lineup for the first time in almost three years having recovered from a devastating stroke.
“It is almost three-years to the day,” said Smiley. “I have had this date circled on the calendar for a long time and I just hope that I can get back to something I really love and that motivated me to recover to be with this group of players who are like family. If it happens this weekend, it will mean so much to me and my family and the coaches and players and friends that have supported me during my recovery.”
Smiley suffered the catastrophic injury in 2022 during the tail-end of the COVID pandemic. While the ultimate cause for the stroke event is not completely diagnosed, it is believed that a spinal injury from a hit on the ice led to bone damage and related blood vessel injury that sent a clot to the brain. The effects on a young and healthy student athlete were immense including paralysis and an inability to communicate. The situation was dire but Smiley and his family began the path back.
“I had two jobs as a student and hockey player at Endicott,” stated Smiley. “Those things take a lot of time and dedication. For me to get back to doing both I looked at my rehabilitation as a my new 9-to-5 job. My goal was to get back on the sheet and back to school with my teammates. I knew it was going to be a challenge. I had to learn to speak and learn to walk again. My parents (Debi and Peter) were there the whole time with my Mom moving to Boston and my Dad coming as often as possible from Philly when he didn’t need to be taking care of my brothers at home. They were there for my first steps – my second time with first steps – which I reminded them they had already seen. They helped bring clarity and focus to the challenges I was facing as did my coach RJ Tolan and my teammates who found ways despite COVID protocols to find a way to see me and raise my spirits. I stayed focused on my goal and last year finally got back on the ice for practices but still had a long way to go to actually play in a game.”
Smiley’s senior class actually graduated last year and while Jack’s recovery had him back on the ice, he was far from the academic requirements to stay with his graduating class. Several of those players including Andrew Kurapov and Jackson Sterrett have remained with the Gulls as graduate students enjoying their eligibility so Saturday’s Senior Night will still include Smiley’s initial class in the lineup when they face-off against Johnson & Wales.
“I think my only daughter Nelly might have given the big news away but if she says it, it must be true,” said head coach RJ Tolan. “Jack’s injury was without question, the worst and most difficult I have ever seen a player endure. He has been so committed to his recovery and I would get videos from the Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital showing his progress and rehab activities. When he gets on the ice on Saturday, it will be a huge moment for all of us at Endicott and with the hockey program. As much as he has gained from our support, we have received so much more in seeing his struggle, determination and commitment to his recovery. I think it will be a very emotional and motivational moment to see Jack back on the ice knowing what it has taken to get him there.”
“I saw Nelly with one of her friends at the rink the other day and she came over to me and said I was playing on Saturday,” stated Smiley. “In my time here I have never been able to get her to “give me knuckles” or fist-bump but her telling me I was going to play was worth my first knuckles with her. I will wait to here from coach but will be ready to go if I get to play.”
Smiley will put on his familiar number ten on Saturday and for the first time in three years, skate on to the ice for the opening face-off in a competitive hockey game. The journey back while not fully complete has come a long way and there will be great cause for emotion and enthusiasm on the ice, on the bench and in the stands where his parents and brother will proudly watch Jack return to his love of the game of hockey with his second family on the Endicott bench.
“I haven’t really thought about what it is going to feel like to be back on the ice,” noted Smiley. “I have all my medical clearances to play. I think I need to figure out my routine before the game since I haven’t had one in so long. I will probably focus on just breathing but it would be great to get out there and make a big hit or score a goal. Just being out there is going to be amazing and we will see where it goes from there.”
Coach Tolan confirmed that Jack will be on the ice in the starting lineup on Saturday in the game against the Wildcats. Nobody will be rooting for him more than those on the bench and the man behind it whose team embodies the values of family and support.
Go get ’em Jack!! Next up is the goal of graduating in the spring which despite the challenges, would be only one-year delayed from his scheduled graduation date last year.
Congratulations on your recovery and inspirational story that should inspire all to never quit – never give up!
