By Brett Friedlander
Staff writer
Neither Ryan Kiley nor coach Scott Rex can remember the specific words that were used, or so they say.
But they are in agreement on the tone and message delivered by Rex to his star player during the second intermission of last Friday's game against Winston-Salem.
"He definitely challenged me," Kiley said. "He told me that I wasn't playing well and that it was time for me to pick it up."
Kiley responded by hitting everyone, and everything, in sight during a third period in which the FireAntz outshot the TBirds 16-1. He also scored the goal that set off a five-goal in six-minute barrage, sending his team to a badly needed victory.
It's the kind of influence Kiley has had on the FireAntz since he returned to Fayetteville on Jan. 2. Since his arrival, they have won 10 of 15 games to vault from last into a tie for second in the South East Hockey League standings.
"Ryan is an energy guy and everyone else on the team seems to feed off that energy," Rex said. "He's the kind of guy that makes all the other players on the ice better."
That's why Rex got so upset Friday, after Kiley followed a subpar effort in Knoxville the night before with two unproductive periods against the TBirds.
"I just thought he could bring his level of competitiveness up a little more," Rex said. "Ryan is a stubborn Irish kid from Boston. When he gets challenged like that, he gets a little mad."
It's an anger he took out on the opposition.
"You see what happens when I get mad?" Kiley said. "That's when I play my best."
Regardless of his demeanor on the ice, Kiley's best has been pretty darn good for the past two seasons.
He led the FireAntz with 26 goals in 53 games last season before leaving to join the playoff-bound Fresno Falcons of the West Coast Hockey League.
This season, he started strongly by scoring 11 goals in 16 games with the Miami Manatees before financial issues involving the WHA2 led him back to the FireAntz.
What makes his performance as a professional all the more impressive is the fact that he wasn't a goal scorer during his four seasons at Merrimack College.
"I was just a mucker in college," he said. "I went into the corners, banged around and got the puck to the goal scorers."
He got his first shot at being one of the scorers during training camp last season, when then-FireAntz coach Shawn Ulrich challenged him to put the puck in the net more.
It was a role that, surprisingly, he wasn't all that eager to accept at first.
"I was like 'OK, whatever,'" Kiley said. "I was just expecting to play the way I've always played. I guess you could say I've been pretty lucky the last couple of years."
Most of the time, Kiley has made his own luck - like one particular game in Macon last season when he caught his opponent napping on a faceoff and ended up with a breakaway that produced the game-winning goal.
Kiley also built a winning rapport with linemate Matt Kohansky. It's a relationship that's grown now that they're back together this season. After scoring just five goals in 17 games before Kiley's arrival, Kohansky has 11 to go with 13 assists since.
"It's nice to have him out there," said Kohansky, who is also from Massachusetts. "He's a strong kid. He clears out a lot of space for me."
Kiley compared the way he and Kohansky have meshed on the ice to the Huntsville tandem of James Patterson and Allan Carr.
That might be a stretch, considering Patterson and Carr are the top two scorers in the SEHL. But given a little anger and a not-so-subtle challenge from Rex every now and then and anything seems possible.
Web posted on Feb. 13, 2004
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