It’s ironic that that now almost five years later, the same strengths that Reid showcased back then, and the same reasons why he was awarded the Herb Brooks honor; were the very reasons why the now-Air Force senior forward is still even playing hockey. In a game dominated by fluke bounces of the puck and second-by-second ups and downs that make your heart burst from time to time, Reid himself has experienced the peaks and valleys the game has to offer more than most. Twists and turns that would have grounded most players. Not this player. Not A.J. Reid
Reid remembers two specific time periods that tested him as a player, and more to the point, challenged him as a person. After his senior season at St. Tomas Academy, Reid started his junior hockey career with the Fargo Force of the USHL. Even before the season started, he felt something was wrong. Reid was traded to Fargo before the season started, and before he even had a chance to put on the Force uniform, there was a coaching staff change. For the first time in recent memory he felt vulnerable. He wasn’t sure where he fit. It was a feeling that lingered for Reid through 19 games, only tallying one assist during that time period.
After game 19, Reid found himself on the move again, this time to the Austin Bruins of the NAHL. The change in scenery helped initially as Reid lit up the scoreboard his first weekend in town, but just as quickly as he found the back of the net with his new team, Reid spiraled into a slump both physically and mentally. He was in uncharted territory.
“The first challenge for me was that I expected to do the same things I had done in high school and experience the same result, and that’s just not the case,” Reid said. “Going from high school to juniors and juniors to college, guys are bigger, they are faster; the goalies are a lot better. The goals that you used to score aren’t going in and the passes you used to make are getting picked off. All of those things started to not happen for me and that was a huge mental challenge for me and also a physical challenge.
“After taking my lumps, I was able to have a chat with my dad who had fortunately played a sport at the highest level and he was able to get me back on track mentally. Definitely the mental part of that was the hardest. Coming from playing high school hockey in Minnesota; going from playing in front of 18,000 people at the state championship game to where I was at. Really changing my habits was the biggest thing I had to do.”
One practice at a time, Reid redefined himself as a player. Slowly his identity began to surface again on, and off, the ice. Through 26 regular season games with Austin during the 2011-12 season Reid scored 29 points. In eight playoff games that year, he scored notched one goal and added three more assists. The following year the former Cadet scored an additional 65 points in 55 regular season games.
His transformation was nothing short of amazing – not because of his on-ice production, but instead, his ability to adapt on the fly and become better for it. While some players would have focused on what they weren’t getting, Reid instead focused on what he wasn’t giving.
Frank Serratore, head coach for the Air Force Academy Falcons, liked what he saw. During the fall of 2013-14, less than two years after contemplating giving up the game altogether, albeit briefly, Reid suited up for Air Force in his first game as a Division I college hockey player.
The transition to the college game went flawlessly for Reid. More importantly, off the ice, Reid’s past life experience helped him tackle the challenges of not only being a student-athlete, but being a student-athlete at Air Force. As a freshman, the power winger played in 38 games, scoring 10 points. As a sophomore, Reid racked up a career-high 30 points in 41 games.
Then came the 2015-16 season, a season that would once again break him down physically, mentally and emotionally. Reid thought his battle with the hockey gods was over with after his journey through the junior ranks. Unfortunately hockey, and life, had other plans.
During a weekend series with Canisius in early December, Reid remembers racing after a loose puck with a Canisius defenseman. After losing an edge, he slid into the boards skate first and full speed. When the dust settled, Reid found himself lying on the ice with a broken fibula and a torn ligament in his right ankle. The wind had been knocked out of the then-junior sniper, both literally and figuratively.
Reid missed 15 games due to the injury before returning late in the season, playing in the Falcons last seven games. The two months away from the ice were the most difficult, yet in the same sense, the most important days and weeks of Reid’s career. Being a former Herb Brooks Award winner, Reid reverted back to the same personal qualities that won him that award in 2011 and the same mindset that pushed him through his struggles in Fargo and Austin in 2012. Instead of consuming himself with self-pity, Reid embraced the experience and while doing so, learned something that to this day – one year later – he calls one of the most important life lessons he’s ever experienced.
“When you feel like you have everything taken away from you, when things aren’t going well and you aren’t playing, I had to learn how to be a great teammate,” Reid said. “It wasn’t apparent to me until that moment. I think that was the biggest change for me. Supporting my teammates despite the fact I couldn’t help them in any physical way.”
“Hockey mirrors life in a lot of ways,” Serratore said. “Sometimes when you think you have it going, something happens and that’s when that adversity rears its ugly head. A.J. dealt very well with that. We actually did well (as a team) when he was hurt, and then when A.J. came back, it was like a shot of adrenaline in the arm and we were a very good team at the end of last season.”
The rise continues for both Reid and the Falcons in 2016-17. Now a senior assistant captain, Reid scored his first goal of the season versus Bentley on Oct. 22, and is one of three seniors on the roster that also includes nine sophomores and eight freshmen. Air Force began the season by upsetting nationally-ranked Boston College. The next night, the Falcons tied Big Ten power Ohio State. With an abundance of youthful skill throughout the roster, Reid’s past experiences on and away from the ice have put him in position to lead. It’s a role he gladly accepts.
“Even going back to St. Thomas to where I am now, learning that people are the most important thing; showing that you care for someone, showing that you are invested in them,” Reid said. “If you take care of people and respect people, a lot of times that makes a huge difference in their lives and makes a huge difference in their own.
“I think that when teams are invested in one another and make an effort to get to know each other and what’s going on in their teammates’ lives, they have the ability to take another step. Those relationships surpass any physical abilities that a team might have. For me, over the years I’ve seen that investing in people, caring and taking the time to get to know someone will lead to more success than not being invested.”
Life mirrors hockey. Hockey mirrors life. A.J. Reid is excelling in both.
Andrew Vitalis can be reached at lphprep@yahoo.com
