When the Massachusetts hockey team took the ice for its regular season opener at Colorado College, it was the first time since playing for the Burnaby Winter Club Bruins in British Columbia, Canada that freshman forward Austin Plevy and junior forward Steven Iacobellis had shared the same ice together in a game.

And at the end of the night, the duo had reunited in a great way, with Plevy netting a hat trick and assist in his first collegiate game and Iacobellis adding an assist of his own.

Plevy, who has eight goals and 12 assists in his first year as a Minuteman, said it was nice to reconnect with an old teammate.

“It’s been great, obviously I started the year with him (Iacobellis), had my first goal games with him that were pretty successful, and then we had some lineup changes and the last couple of weekends I’ve been back with him and he’s just a really easy guy to play with,” Plevy said.

When asked what type of impact Plevy has brought to Amherst, the UMass captain had nothing but good things to say.

“He had an impact right off the start and I think he’s done a really good job of continuing to help our team in a positive way in practice and in games,” Iacobellis said.  “It’s really nice to see him have some success.”

Iacobellis added that he has tried to be there for Plevy whenever he needs advice, whether it is on or off the ice.

“I think he’s done a good job himself,” Iacobellis said.  “I’ve just tried to be there as a voice if he’s needed something or someone to talk to in any situation with hockey or schooling.”

During the recruiting process, Plevy acknowledged that he was more involved with talking to guys like sophomores Maddison Smiley and Patrick Lee, as all three played for the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

But he also said that contact with his former teammate was there.

“I definitely talked to (Iacobellis) a little bit,” Plevy said. “The coaches mentioned that he was here so I definitely talked to him on Facebook and stuff a little bit. He for sure had some influence, and then obviously once I committed and him being the captain for this year we talked a lot over the summer, saw him a few times so that was good.”

Iacobellis added: “We got in touch a little bit here and there and kind of let him know what he was in for and that the guys were excited to have him coming in and that I was excited and if he needed anything just exchange numbers again and it was nice to reunite.”

With his first season winding down, Plevy recognized the tough stretches the Minutemen had to enduring, noting that prior to this year losing had not been something that occurred often on his other teams.

However, the leadership and helpfulness of Iacobellis has made it a bit easier to cope with for the Langley, British Columbia native.

“Coming in here, not to sound selfish but I’ve usually been on some winning teams, so to come here and not be winning as much has been a little frustrating,” Plevy said. “He’s definitely been there to cope with that kind of stuff, I don’t think it’s just me, all of the freshmen it’s been tough getting used to the college environment, but he’s been a great captain so far, he comes over to our dorm once every couple of weeks and chats so he’s pretty good about that kind of stuff.”

Both players were asked about their younger days, with Plevy even name-dropping a current star in the NHL who was on the same team as they were.

“That was a while back, probably Atom, I think they call it Squirt in the States, but yeah I was like eight or nine and we were on the same team,” Plevy said. “It’s actually a funny story we played with (current Edmonton Oiler) Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, obviously in the NHL now so it was cool to play with a guy like that.

“I was from Langley which is about a half hour away so I drove out there every day with my dad and it was great,” Plevy added. “We had a great coach and that’s where I met Steve so it’s kinda funny that we ended up back together.”

Despite not being able to recall much, Iacobellis did remember that back then was a lot of fun.

“I don’t remember too much, but I do remember us playing together and we had a very good and competitive team,” he said. “I think we won a couple championships together, so good memories playing with him.”

Jason Kates can be reached at [email protected] and followed @Jason_Kates.