In August 2024, Mt. Lebanon hockey player Graham Resler dislocated his kneecap laterally after taking a hit during a game. He tore his medial patellofemoral ligament, requiring surgery and a projected six- to eight-month recovery. Just like that, Resler’s future took an unexpected turn.

Resler’s love for hockey began when he was 4 years old in Sidney Crosby’s Little Penguins Learn to Play program at the Mt. Lebanon Recreation Center. At age 5, he joined the Mt. Lebanon Hornets, where he played for the next 12 years. His weeknights, weekends and most of his childhood centered around the sport. Hockey was Resler’s life.

By the summer of 2024, he felt on top of his game.

“I was in the best shape of my life, about to start another season with my Hornets and varsity teams. I felt great,” Resler recalled.

That confidence lasted until one shift in a preseason Hornets game in Altoona.

“I took a hit and remember hearing my knee pop,” he said. “I kept playing, but I knew something wasn’t right.”

For the first time, Resler found himself without hockey.

“I’ll be honest… I had some really down times and had to isolate myself,” he said. “It was so hard being around hockey when I knew I couldn’t play.”

With support from his family and a friend navigating a similar injury, Resler set a goal to return stronger than before. Over the next several months, he completed physical therapy, rode the Peloton and lifted weights daily. He logged countless hours of training and was making strong progress.

Then something unexpected happened: he developed an interest in the stock market. He began investing his own money, researching blue-chip companies on his iPhone while pedaling through workouts.

“I had a new passion that was getting me up every day even when my knee was painful,” he said.

Maybe there was more to life than hockey after all. Well—not so fast.

In just five months, Resler’s work paid off. He was cleared to return to the ice, just in time for his Hornets U16AA team’s two must-win games to close the regular season. The Hornets won both, qualifying for the District Championships. They won Districts. That victory sent them to the State Championships. They won States. And the State title earned them a spot in the USA Hockey Tier II National Tournament, where the team placed third and Resler finished as the tournament’s second-highest point-earner.

Because of his performance, Resler was selected to the National All-Star Team—an outstanding achievement for any player, let alone one who wasn’t supposed to be back in the lineup at all.

“To see a kid go from a season-ending injury to the national all-tournament team is remarkable… love watching Graham play,” Hornets head coach Scot Lehman said.

Resler had reached his goal. He came back better than ever.

“It was a true high for me,” he said.

But the high didn’t last. Continued pain and scar tissue required a second knee surgery in May 2025. Both surgeries were performed by Mt. Lebanon resident and graduate Dr. Bob Schilken, an orthopedic sports-medicine specialist whom the Resler family credits for exceptional care.

Although the second surgery involved less pain and a shorter recovery, Resler knew his hockey future might change.

“Through hockey I have experienced my greatest accomplishments, as well as my greatest disappointments, and they usually follow one another,” he said.

Now a high school senior, Resler has hung up his Hornets jersey to focus his final year on varsity hockey—where he is averaging nearly a point per game—and his future plans. He is deciding which college to attend next fall and intends to major in finance, hoping to pursue a career in the investment industry, possibly overseas. He also plans to continue playing hockey at some level and is grateful for what the injury taught him about hard work and perseverance.

“Maybe I’ll continue to surprise myself on the ice, or perhaps my love for investments will flourish and I’ll make a million dollars,” he said. “Hopefully both happen, but I know whatever the result, it’s going to be up to me.”

To catch Resler and the Mt. Lebanon High School varsity hockey team as they make their run at the PIHL playoffs, visit
lebohockey.com for the game schedule.