NASHUA – Tim Schaller was in the corner of the ice at Conway Arena, occasionally making a quick, crisp pass to a streaking forward heading to the net during a practice drill.

A little while later, he smiled.

“I still got it,” he said.

Schaller, it seems, has always had it. He parlayed a great college career at Providence into a National Hockey League career as a third or fourth line forward, always making something happen around the puck. Steady, not spectacular, but hockey people knew his value. As former Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy once said, “Timmy is Timmy.”

Rivier head coach Shaun Millerick had never met Schaller, but knew of him being a Bruins fan and also following college hockey at all levels. When the Raiders weren’t completely set on the candidates they had interviewed for an assistant coach, Millerick then saw that Schaller had applied.

“I talked to him a couple of times and had him on campus,” Millerick said. “It was a no brainer. His interest level was higher than I would’ve expected, having retired a pro a couple of years back.

“It’s been awesome for us so far and I think it’s only going to get better the more we’re on the ice and the guys get to know Tim a little bit more.”

Coaching hadn’t been completely on Schaller’s radar when he retired nearly two years ago. He was traveling, enjoying life, and as he said, “Getting back on the ice wasn’t really my priority in the past year and a half, since I stopped playing.”

But when he saw the Rivier job was, as he put it “up for grabs”, he began thinking about it more. “That’s when I said I’d kind of always regret not trying the coaching route, and this was the perfect opportunity. I reached out to Shaun and here we are.”

Yes, with a lot of time at Conway Arena. The Raiders had an exhibition game slated for Friday night at Conway vs. Western New England, and open the season for real on Nov. 1 at Keene State. Schaller admits “the timing was pretty crazy. I was admanantly looking for something to do, and with this being right down the street, it made sense. I met Shaun, and we jelled pretty quickly.”

Hockey and Schaller have always gone well together. He played briefly at Merrimack High School then played in juniors before his stellar career at Providence, Hockey East’s Defensive Forward of the Year in 2013. The next year he was called up by the Buffalo Sabres and ironically his first professional goal came against the Bruins just after Christmas at TD Garden. Then a dream come true, he became a Bruin as a free agent in July of 2016. Two years with the Bruins increased his value and after a 12-goal, 10 assist season in 2017-18 he signed a two-year, $3.8 million deal with Vancouver.

“Vancouver was beautiful,” Schaller said. “I’d love to go back and vacation there.”

He played 47 games for the Canucks, then was traded mid-season the following year to the L.A. Kings in a multi-player deal in February of 2020. And of course, then the pandemic hit.

Schaller then moved around the AHL, playing for Edmonton’s Bakersfield affiliate, then Scranton Wilkes-Barre (Penguins), and finally the Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville).

He thought about playing in Europe, but in his final season, he wasn’t playing, it was his 10th year as a pro, and “I always said I wanted to make it 10 years. I kind of took it as a sign that I think that’s it for me. I probably could have still played, but the game’s fast now and I wasn’t getting any faster. I think I stopped at the right time. … (Hockey) officially felt like a job, I got out of it what I wanted. I was mentally OK with that. … I’m healthy, I’m happy.”

The Rivier players are thrilled he’s here.

“It’s cool having the experience of a guy whose played that long in the NHL,” Rivier forward Desmond Braszeau of Timmins, Ontario said. “He brings a lot of experience, he’s a really good players coach, really good with his communication. It’s really cool playing in Nashua that a Bruins guy is coaching us, with us on the ice very day.”

Schaller says one thing he wanted to avoid once he retired was a lot of travel, but, as he put it, “With hockey comes travel.” He feels his expertise will be working one on one with the players breaking down video.

“I’ll be pulling kids in doing videos,” he said. “That’s where I think I’ll be able to shine. Taking kids one-on-one or taking lines in together, and really teaching them pretty much the Xs and Os. Especially nowadays, people learn strictly off video. I’m excited for that.”

Schaller had thought back to all the assistant coaches he’d worked with a player. So when he sat down with Millerick, he told him he wanted to be “not necessarily their friend but a guy they could come to with hard questions that they don’t want to necessarily ask the head coach. Kind of be a safe space for them, because that’s what I’ve had growing up with my assistant coaches. They’ve always been the one I’ve gone to when I’ve needed help with anything, on the ice, off the ice. More of a mentor type role.”

In fact, Schaller, who turns 34 next month, was that type of player in his final pro seasons in the AHL. “I was really good with the young guys my last couple of years, I took a lot of pride in the young guys looking up to me in the American League the last couple of years and I can just transfer it right over to here.

“The conversations are a little different, they’re students. They’re the same age as the kids I used to play with, so the conversations have to be a little different, a little more centered since they’re college students.”

His first day with the team “was exciting”. He’s found out that with 33 players, he needs to get to know the players names. “I’m quizzing myself at night sometimes with the roster,” he said.

New Rivier assistant men’s hockey coach Tim Schaller of Merrimack was known as a physical checking forward in his two seasons with the Boston Bruins. (AP photo)

Schaller doesn’t expect to be involved in the recruiting but he’s willing to help out when needed, meet with a recruit or go to a tournament somewhere. At first he got some vibes of curiosity from the players about his NHL career.

“I’ve never brought up NHL once to them, and I never will,” he said. “They bring it up, I’ll talk to them about it. I’m sure I’ll tell them some stories.”

Oh, they’ll want to hear them.

“All the boys are talking about it, it’s pretty cool,” Brazeau said. “I remember him from his NHL days. Guys say ‘He, we’ve got an NHL guy coming on the ice.’ To be honest, you wouldn’t be able to tell.”

Schaller is in great shape now after letting his body heal for a year. He’s playing hockey in a men’s league, and he ran a half-marathon recently. Now, of course, being back on the ice, Millerick was asking Schaller if he had the itch to play again. Nope. “I’m content,” he said.

Of course, Schaller smiles when he thinks of his days as a Bruin, which had to be the highlight of his career.

“You saying that, it still doesn’t seem real that it happened,” he said. “It seemed surreal. Even for my parents to be able to come down and see every game. They missed one game when I was with the Bruins, a big snowstorm or something.

“Watching the games now on TV, it’s ‘Oh shoot, I did that.’ It’s crazy.”

Bottom line: Schaller figured he wouldn’t know what coaching was like unless he tried.

“After being with the guys, I’m happy I did,” he said. “Like I said, I would’ve regretted not trying to coach a team. I couldn’t be happier. … It’s good hockey out here, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. … A whole new world, and I never thought I was going to coach, but here we are. I’m excited.”