LoVerde, Schilling take bond from Miami-Ohio to Ontario

Ever since Cameron Schilling rolled into Ontario, Reign players have been trying to dig up old dirt on their captain Vincent LoVerde via the new, knowledgeable secret keeper.

“He knows all my college stories so some of the younger guys are trying to get it out of him,” LoVerde said.

LoVerde, 27, and Schilling, 28, played three seasons of college hockey together at Miami University (Ohio) from 2008-2011 and have been reunited with the Reign this AHL season as the looked-upon veterans of the blue line.

Ironically enough, neither of the two remember if they were paired together much in college — “We were talking about that. We haven’t played a ton together because we probably would have remembered that,” Schilling said — but they both recall typical college-like memories of one another (on and) off the ice.

“I remember him sleeping on my couch during his recruiting visit, first off,” a laughing LoVerde said when asked what he remembers about Schilling from then. “No, I remember him being a great player. He worked very hard. He was a recruited walk-on and his first year there he was in and out of the lineup and towards the end of that first year he really started to come into his own as a player.

“You could see it now. He’s big. He can shoot the puck. He can skate. He was an awesome player in college the three years I was with him and then his senior year he had another outstanding year. I lived with him one summer in Chicago. I’m very good friends with him and his wife. Known him for a long time. He’s an awesome guy and a great player.”

On the ice for the RedHawks, the duo went to two Frozen Fours together and won a CCHA championship, but the off-the-ice memories are what the two share the most vivid memories from. Schilling was an accounting major and LoVerde a finance major, which meant for a handful of crossover classes between the two and long nights at the library together.

“A lot of times guys would go to the library but it ended up turning into a social hour more than anything at the library because everybody was there,” Schilling said. “Especially with him, he just loved talking to everybody. We wouldn’t get much accomplished until three or four in the morning. It was fun definitely.”

That’s the way LoVerde remembers it, too.

“His focus was a little bit better than mine,” he said. “I’m probably a little bit too outgoing sometimes so we’d be around the library and instead of studying I’d just be talking to everyone. … We had a few long nights in King Library in Miami studying. And he probably got sick of me after a while because I wouldn’t shut up.”

Into their pro careers, the two study buddies went separate ways until this season, the first time Schilling recalls playing pro with a college teammate. For Schilling, he left the Rockford IceHogs (Chicago’s AHL affiliate) and came to the Reign on Jan. 21 in the trade that sent forward Michael Latta the other way. Schilling knows firsthand that it’s not easy changing organizations after playing for three in the last three seasons: Hershey, Rockford and now Ontario.

“It was huge,” Schilling said on the advantages of knowing LoVerde beforehand. “He called me right away and told me. I think he knew before I knew that I was coming here. Him being able to pick me up [from the airport]. I played with him that first game, was very comfortable. Just being able to go right into meeting the guys and going out to dinner with guys because I know him. Whereas when you come in not knowing anybody you could potentially be by yourself for a month or two, trying to figure out your way. It’s been nice having him here, especially with him being the captain. He runs a lot of the stuff around here and knows where everything’s going on. It’s been awesome.”

The two played together that first game on Jan. 22, a 3-2 shootout win over San Diego, and haven’t since. Not because they didn’t mesh well together but because the Reign are short on experienced defensemen. The only thing consistent about their partners is that it’s not each other as they cycle with the team’s younger players in 23-year-old Zac Leslie, 21-year-old Alex Lintuniemi, 22-year-old Kurtis MacDermid, 24-year-old Alexx Privitera and 21-year-old Damir Sharipzianov.

“It’s part of the thing of having good veterans, right?,” said head coach Mike Stothers. “Vinny we know is an excellent veteran and Schills we got halfway through the season and it takes a bit for him to get used to — we play probably completely different than the way they played in Rockford, or whatever. As a matter of fact I know we do. It takes him a while to get adjusted. But still, you can’t put enough value on what the experienced guys bring. You look at what our team was like when Vinny was out [five games in February] hurt. So, heaven forbid anything ever happen to Schills and then it’s just Vinny you kind of go, ‘oh man.’ It’s tough.”

LoVerde, the team’s captain and two-time All-Star, has been looked upon to be lead the way for the past three seasons, but in some ways the acquisition of Schilling has helped share the responsibilities in the mentoring department.

“He’s a pro’s pro,” LoVerde said. “He’s coming to work every day. He practices hard. He plays hard. He wants to win. He competes. From looking at that it’s very easy to see how young guys, they see Schills working hard it’s easy for them to do the same.”