SIOUX FALLS — On Saturday night, Mark Hillier stood at center ice, the Lamoriello Trophy hoisted high above his head, the rest of the Merrimack Warriors crowding in around him. It was a moment years in the making.
And, for Hillier, one that almost never happened.
Three years ago, Hillier was just a sophomore, a promising piece but not the heartbeat of a Merrimack team that made a surprise run to the Hockey East final. That night ended in heartbreak, an overtime loss to Boston University. The NCAA Tournament brought more pain, as Quinnipiac ended their season, 5-0, before storming all the way to the national title.
While Merrimack brushed up against greatness, it has never broken through.
For the first time in program history, the Warriors claimed the Hockey East Tournament championship, and with it, another shot at the NCAA Tournament. Their reward: a date with North Dakota in Sioux Falls, S.D. and a captain who’d earned every second of this improbable journey.
Hillier’s road here wasn’t straight. It wasn’t even supposed to last this long.
By the numbers, his eligibility should have run out: sophomore in 2023, junior in 2024, senior in 2025. But life — and hockey — rarely care about tidy endings. A major lower-body injury in preseason last year sent Hillier to surgery, cost him a year on the ice, and opened the door for a redshirt season. It also forced him to decide whether to fight his way back, or quietly let go.
He never really left.
Scooting around the rink for team photos, Hillier refused to let injury set him apart. If he wasn’t rehabbing, he was with the team: practices, games, every day. “That’s just the human he is,” coach Scott Borek said. “Mark Hillier is one of the most A+ humans I’ve ever coached. I’ll never forget what he’s done for Merrimack.”
Hillier’s impact started even before he arrived in North Andover. As a record-breaking scorer at St. Andrew’s Prep in Canada, he picked Merrimack over bigger hockey schools — a choice that opened doors for other recruits, and shifted the program’s trajectory.
Saturday’s breakthrough wasn’t luck. It was years of culture-building, of moments like Hillier gutting through pain to chase down an icing call in the closing minutes of the championship game. “He might be the slowest guy on the rink,” Borek joked, “but he won that race, and it was huge.” Exhausted, Hillier asked for a shift off — not something most captains would do with a title on the line. But that’s him: always the team above himself.
Ask Hillier about lifting the trophy, and he struggles for words. “I’m so proud of this group. We worked so hard to get here. This is probably the best thing that will ever happen to me. I’ll carry it with me forever.”
Through everything — the injury, the setbacks, the heartbreak — Hillier’s story is about putting the team first. It’s about showing up, even when you can’t play, and being the steady presence everyone else leans on.
Now, Merrimack’s season goes on. The trophy stays home, but the chase for something bigger begins Thursday night in Sioux Falls — with Hillier, against all odds, still leading the way.
(Mike McMahon covers college hockey for The Eagle-Tribune and as well as his Website, The Mack Report. He also reports for Collegehockeynews.com. You can follow him on “X” at @MikeMcMahonCHN)