All of which brings us to Friday morning in the near empty stands of the Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville where Lester was watching his son skate and thinking about his own dad.
Lester is the father of three. All three were involved in sport, Brendan currently plays for the New York Rangers and Rory played pro lacrosse where he was known as the Mimico Mauler.
Lester and his wife Deirdre couldn't be in three places at once. Which is where Reilly's paternal grandfather Lester stepped in.
"Reilly has become such a good man. He is such a great guy, so solid," said Lester, who along with 21 other fathers or relatives is along for the ride this weekend on the first ever Golden Knights Fathers Trip.
The dads joined the team in Vegas this week and boarded the team flight to Nashville on Thursday. They'll take in games in Nashville and Dallas before scattering across the globe to their everyday lives outside of the NHL.
"Reilly is caring and super smart. His grandfather played a big role in that. In who Reilly is as a person and a player. The bond he had with his grandfather, my dad, was just something else because we had three boys. My dad said to me, 'I got Reilly. I will take him to all his games,' because he had a busy schedule. My dad retired and took Reilly everywhere. That bond with him and my dad was fabulous. He did pass a couple years ago, but as soon as he retired and took on Reilly, he didn't age a day. He did get to see Reilly in the NHL, he was always Reilly's biggest fan."
Reilly is a thoughtful person and usually chews on his words a bit before providing an answer to the media. But when asked about his grandfather on Friday there was no hesitation.
"He was obviously very important for me. When you have three boys all in teenage years playing hockey and lacrosse constantly, it's tougher getting everyone where they need to be," recalled Reilly. "My grandfather helped, he took me to practice a lot of times. He picked me up from school a lot of times. We created a great bond just through that and through hockey. He's been one of my biggest supporters playing hockey. I think he took a lot of passion in being so involved, and I'm very grateful for that."
As Reilly was granting this interview just outside the visitor's dressing room in Nashville, his dad approached and stood beside him. They smiled at one another and it was evident this conversation had been previously shared between the two of them. Dad and son were on the same page about who would be standing there if he were able.
"Oh absolutely, my grandpa would be here if he could," said Reilly. "I think that would have been a fun experience, and I think he'd enjoy it. We were able to travel to a lot of different hockey tournaments together, and we were even able to go to Russia together for a hockey tournament when I was 14 years old. It was great being able to take him on events like this, and I know he enjoyed it. So he definitely would have enjoyed something like this."
Lester tied his grandson's skates. They were ties that bind.
