With a passion for lacing up the skates and playing as well as aspirations to coach in the future, Sandy Hook’s own Melissa Samoskevich could not be more thrilled about where she is in her hockey career.

Samoskevich, whose resume includes tenures with the US Women’s National Team, collegiate playing days at Quinnipiac University, and stints with professional hockey’s Connecticut Whale, this year signed as a full-time player with the Whale, a team in the Premier Hockey Federation. In addition, she is back at Quinnipiac as the director of women’s ice hockey player development and operations — effectively juggling two full-time roles while crossing all of hockey-related t’s and dotting the pucks and sticks i’s she could have hoped.

“This is definitely my most ideal situation. To be able to play full-time is a dream in itself,” Samoskevich said. “I do see myself coaching sometime down the road.”

A year ago, Samoskevich took on a coaching job at Penn State University and came back to her home state to join the Whale in the playoffs during the spring. In her new situation, Samoskevich is able to play regularly while keeping her hand in the coaching part of the game.

“I think deep down in my heart I still love the game, I’m still young enough to play and still feel good on the ice,” said the 25-year-old Samoskevich.

The pro women’s league has come a long way in, Samoskevich notes. “It’s definitely competitive. I feel lucky to be playing in a league like this,” she said.

A forward with the Whale, Samoskevich’s days vary a bit but she lifts weights twice a week, does some combination of conditioning, recovery, and stretching in the morning, and practices with the team three days a week. The season runs from November through March with 24 games taking this squad of high-level/former Division I athletes to cities such as Montreal, Toronto, Buffalo, Boston, and Minnesota. The Whale is based out of Simsbury’s International Skating Center of Connecticut.

Being a part of both the Whale and Quinnipiac means a lot to Samoskevich. “You get another family — that’s how I look at it,” she said.

Cass Turner, head coach of Quinnipiac, contacted Samoskevich and got her back into the Bobcats organization this past offseason.

“It was definitely hard to leave,” she said of the decision to depart from Penn State, adding that the people she worked with made her time there enjoyable. But the desire to play more, along with her familiarity with Quinnipiac made this happen.

“She’s always looking out for me,” Samoskevich said of Turner.

In her role with Quinnipiac, Samoskevich plans travel and meals for the team, cuts video for staff and players for opposing team scouting purposes and to break down Quinnipiac player shifts.

“It’s a big umbrella — that’s for sure,” Samoskevich said of her role(s). “I’ve been part of it so I know what we look for. It’s so fun to be a part of the team and being around them it definitely feels like home.

NCAA rules are such that only three coaches can be on board to work with players but expansion to five coaches is in the works and Samoskevich is hopeful for an opportunity to become even more closely-involved with the coaching side of things in the near future.

On top of all of this, being back at Quinnipiac allows for Samoskevich to be around her sister, Maddy, a junior defender on the team. Samoskevich, in fact, does some of her training at Quinnipiac.

“It’s nice to spend that extra time with her,” she said. “Even though we’re not on the same team we’re always pushing each other. It just makes us better.”

Maddy helped Quinnipiac win the Nutmeg Classic. Every Thanksgiving weekend, the Connecticut women’s teams get together and play in this two-game tournament. It rotates each year, and Quinnipiac hosted this year’s event. Usually UCONN, Yale, and Sacred Heart join the Bobcats. This year, Yale played in a tournament in Las Vegas, so Minnesota’s Bemidji State filled in. Maddy was selected to the All Tournament team.

The Samoskevich sisters are not the only ones carving their names impressively into the ice; their brother Mackie — Maddy’s twin — is lighting up the stats sheets with the University of Michigan with 21 points in 16 games. Drafted by the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers last year, he may also have high-level professional hockey playing days ahead.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.