Leo’s Audio Interview:
Leo Skehan, captain of the Blue Hens Ice Hockey team, is a senior hailing from York, PA who has been playing hockey for as long as he could remember. He started playing the sport when he was four, and was influenced by his three older brothers and dad, who all played hockey. After high school, he played at a prep school in New York, called Trinity Pawling School, before coming to Delaware.
When deciding on schools, hockey was a big part of his decision. Leo’s coaches from Trinity Pawling encouraged him to look into Delaware. This school was bigger compared to a lot of the other schools he was looking at. Leo came to UD the year after the hockey team won a national title. He knew that Delaware had a good organization to play for, so he came down to talk to the former coaches, and liked what they had to offer. He also added, “they have pretty good academics as well.”
Leo has made so many memories with the team as the years have gone by. He said his best individual memory was “a playmaker in 30 seconds, all dishes to Mark Zeszut, former UD hockey legend.” His best team memory was winning the league championship when he was a freshman, and making it to the conference championships the past three years. Leo thinks that the team’s biggest rival is Rhode Island, for the past four years, but he also thinks Stony Brook for the past two years. His personal rival is Rhode Island, “I love playing those guys and it’s always a good game.”
Coming from Pennsylvania, naturally his favorite hockey team is the Philadelphia Flyers. A player on the team he looks up to is Wayne Simmonds because, much like Leo, he works hard every time he is out on the ice. As a senior and captain of the team, it is natural for other players to look up to him. He plays a crucial role on the team. “Leadership to me means you have to stay up for the whole team even when you personally aren’t doing so well. This is something I’ve learned over the years and tried to apply, this year especially, but mostly just setting a good example. If your leadership at the top is weak, it is going to trickle downwards and you’re gonna have a tough season.”
Some last words he had for the team and future Blue Hen hockey players to come were, “Try to get better every day, just try to get better.” That kind of attitude and perseverance got Leo to where he is today.
Quick Answer Questions:
- Cats or dogs? Dogs
- Pizza or ice cream? Pizza
- Kate’s or Grottos? Kate’s
- If you could only bring three things to an island, what would they be? “A boat so I could get off the island. That’s all I need really.”
- If you could choose to sing one song on American Idol, what would it be? Here I Go Again by Whitesnake
- If your life were made into a movie, who would play you? Barry Pepper
- You’re a new Crayola crayon color, what’s your name? Completely stumped
- Favorite throwback song? Even Flow by Pearl Jam
- Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Egg
- What’s your favorite Disney princess? “Anne Hathaway…is she a Disney princess?”
- Pepsi or Coke? Coke
- Most embarrassing moment ever? “Last year as a junior I sat in a class for a half an hour before I realized I was in the wrong class and wrong major completely for that class. I think it was pre-med or something. I was having a tough day.”
- If you could have any superpower, what would it be? “Gotta be flying, gotta be.”
- Favorite Kardashian? Caitlyn Jenner
- Fallon or Kimmel? Fallon
- Dream vacation spot? Australia
- Spongebob or Patrick? Patrick
- If you could choose to swap lives with any celebrity, who would it be? Matthew McConaughey
- Is it a great day to be a Blue Hen? Absolutely
- Ready to graduate or no? No
Written By: Analisa Vizzoni and Tyler Fitzpatrick
