(Photo Credit: Justin Berl-RMU Athletics)

Nick Prkusic is the captain of the Robert Morris Colonials. As a leader of this team, he is responsible for helping propel the Colonials to their first national ranking since the 2014-2015 campaign. The St. Albert, Alberta Native has done his part, contributing at or near a point-per-game pace. As first year Assistant Coach, Mike Corbett said of Prkusic, ” he’s got every club in the bag.”

This means that Nick can play anywhere in the lineup, and in any capacity needed. This is a great thing to have in a captain for a younger team. despite the team playing like veterans, they only have three seniors, of which Prkusic is one of them. Due to the pandemic, he has two options following the season, graduate and leave, or come back for one more year .

At the present moment, to his credit, Nick is only focused on this year, despite being a very worthy candidate for an NHL contract as an undrafted free agent. No NHL teams have talked to him as of yet, and given his pace and ability to mentor younger teammates, he would fit with any team in need of a fast skating, big, power forward who models his game after Sean Couturier which is all of them. Like the Flyers Center, Prkusic uses his big frame to help establish himself in the offensive end, and in his own end he is one of the more defensively responsible centers in the league. Prkusic is six feet, three inches tall, and that size, combined with his skillset helps him fit right in with the heavy and fast game these Colonials are.

Prkusic also is playing well so far for Corbett, and likes what he brings to the group. He describes Corbett as being a player’s coach who is always the steady hand on the bench. When the team scores a goal, Corbett is the one telling them to focus on the next shift. When the Colonials fall behind, Corbett is the one to rally the bench and bring folks together to get things don

This team, lead by Prkusic builds on traits that leaders always like to focus on as a means to an end. One of the biggest traits that meet that definition to Nick is honesty, which is one of many things that sold him on playing for Derek Schooley. The Colonials’ Head Coach was straight forward about his role coming from the Alberta Junior Hockey League to the Colonials and what he would need to do that would make him better. So far, Prkusic has hit every mark on his journey to help this team make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in almost the past decade.

One of the biggest areas of honesty for Prkusic is admitting what he is good at, along with areas he wants to improve. Over his time as a Colonial, Nick has only gotten stronger which has fueled other areas of his game. In addition, throughout his career, ever since he made the shift to a skater when he was 12, goal scoring has come naturally for him. Regarding an area to improve, his skating is the biggest thing he knows would help him get further up the ladder to the NHL. As he said, he wants to focus on edge work and acceleration. Prkusic has good straight-line speed once he accelerates, but needs to get there a bit faster. In addition, as a leader he has done a better job this year of staying out of the penalty box. Prkusic mentioned improving on that even more this year.

Away from the ice, this Edmonton Oilers fan lives a pretty calm life, with said calmness being a refuge during the pandemic we are all living through. Prkusic has done a lot for these Colonials, is a strong leader for them as showcased by the play of his line mate, freshman Randy Hernandez, who arguably is in the running for Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Year, combined with his own skills. Schooley and Corbett rely on having strong voices in the locker room. Prkusic is a leader for these Colonials, and although they have a lot still left to whether this season, he is the perfect field general to help them get there.

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