Gophers forward Connor Reilly, one of the hockey program’s top incoming freshmen, will miss the entire 2012-13 season because of a knee injury.
Reilly hurt his right knee in an off-ice incident at a recent team party, according to two sources close to the situation.
He had hoped to be part of a rare three-brother combination on a Gophers team with high expectations. The Gophers advanced to the Frozen Four last spring and should be the WCHA favorite when the preseason polls are released.
Ryan, Connor's twin and another forward, and younger brother Mike, a defenseman, are among the Gophers’ eight other first-year players.
Last season the Reillys were all standouts for the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League. Connor had 35 goals and 86 points for the Vees before his season ended abruptly after 54 games. He had surgery on his left knee on March 6 for a knee condition which causes fragments of bone to break off from the joint surface.
The 6-foot, 170-pound Connor, who had two screws inserted to repair that knee, was expected to be ready for the Gophers’ season-opening series against Michigan State at Mariucci Arena on Oct. 12-13.
The Vees had a 42-game winning streak and ended the regular season with a 54-6-0 record, and then won the Junior A national championship in Canada.
Connor, who turns 21 on Oct. 1, graduated from Holy Angels in 2010. He played for the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL for one season before becoming a Vee.
He is part of a well-known hockey family in Chanhassen. His father Mike played college hockey for Colorado College and the Gophers and was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 1977. His sister Shannon played for Ohio State from 2006-10.
Without Connor, the Gophers still have 14 forwards or two more than normally play every game.
