Raedeke’s Ready For Anything
He is officially the Edmonton Oil Kings iron man. 17 year old Brent Raedeke is the only player to play in all 72 games of the Oil Kings inaugural season. He’s busy training for his second full season in the Western Hockey League back in his hometown of Regina and would love nothing more than to continue his streak for his 18 year old season in the WHL.
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Raedeke’s play on the ice got him noticed. The 6 foot tall, 190 pound centreman finished in the top 5 on the Oil Kings for goals and points finishing with 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points. That also ranked him 23rd in the WHL’s rookie scoring race which is very respectable considering the deep talent pool the league has to offer.
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The results on the ice translated into a busier winter for Brent’s agent Allain Roy who works with the CMG group along with Shayne Corson and Dennis Polonich. They were giving their best sales pitches to some of the NHL teams that have been inquiring about the flashy forward including Carolina, Colorado, Columbus, Toronto and Phoenix. Of course, it’s all part of the game.
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“Actually, they (scouts) mostly dealt through my agent.” explained Raedeke . “I might have just talked to one all year after a game. But when they did, it was kind of like wow, there’s an NHL scout talking to me. It was pretty amazing. I was in shock. It was unbelievable.”
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Raedeke’s come a long way since strapping on the blades at the tender age of three at his old elementary school in Regina. His dad Mike brought him there to learn how to skate and eventually the father – son combo graduated to the Initiation Ducks of the Northwest Hockey Association of Regina.
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“That was when I was about 5 years old.” remembered Brent. My dad and my dad’s friend, who also had a son on the team, were the coaches. We had some fun.”
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Brent’s rise through the minor hockey ranks of Regina ended up with him being drafted by the Regina Pats in the 8th round (141st overall pick) of the 2005 WHL Bantam Draft. He went to a couple of training camps for the Pats when he was 15 and 16 years old but couldn’t quite crack the WHL roster in 2006 – 07. Instead, he excelled for the Midget AAA Regina Pat- Canadiens where he racked up 16 goals and 20 assists for 36 points in 40 games playing major midget hockey in his home town. That ultimately lead to his expansion draft day trade to the Edmonton Oil Kings in the summer of ’07.
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“I was actually really surprised because the season before I got traded, the Pats were telling me that I had a really good shot of making it and that I was going to be there next year so when they traded me, it really surprised me but it probably couldn’t have worked out any better.”
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Raedeke not only made the Oil Kings, he quickly became regular in all situations on the ice. Raedeke’s ice time increased as the Oil Kings season progressed and he turned into one of the team’s most consistent penalty killers and the coaching staff had enough confidence in him to throw him back on the point to work the powerplay.
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“Brent is a strong two way player with great core strength.” described Oil Kings Head Coach Steven Pleau. “He’s got an offensive upside too. He showed us that in early November and later around Christmas time with a couple of nice streaks and some timely goals. There’s a reason he was the only guy to dress for all 72 games this year. He deserved the ice time.”
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The streaks Pleau was referring to came when Raedeke started to score in bunches. He was the first Oil King to record a 3 game goal scoring streak from October 30th to November 3rd against Lethbridge, Everett and Swift Current and two of those games were on the road. Later on, he set a season high with another 3 game goal scoring streak that was a part of a 4 game point streak in late December.
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Ironically when Brent was asked to describe himself as a player, that same phrase ‘two way player’ came up again.
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“I would say I’m a hard working, two way player that can play all situations and isn’t afraid to get his nose dirty and can put the puck in the net if given the opportunity.” He put the puck in the net 16 times and 12 of those goals were even strength markers.
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It’s safe to say the Oil Kings’ coaching staff has a lot of faith in the young Regina native. It turns out, Raedeke has a lot of faith too. His late grandfather was a pastor at the Prince of Peace Church in Regina a strong set of beliefs has been passed down from generation to generation in the Raedeke family. Brent says his faith life helps out when it comes to his hockey career.
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“It actually really helps. I always say a prayer before each period and before each game. I think it really helps me balance to stay mentally focused and stuff like that. I think having a strong faith is really important to play hockey and move on to the next level. If you have that faith, it really helps you in areas like that.”
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It’s no secret that Oil Kings’ assistant coach Rocky Thompson also has a firm set of beliefs and takes his religious life very seriously. It created somewhat of a bond between player and coach.
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“We actually talked quite a bit about that.” recalls Brent. “When I found out that he was a born again Christian I was kind of surprised. You wouldn’t obviously think that he would be from the type of player that he was, but we talked a lot about that. It was really surprising.”
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Brent also has the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of some members of his family. The Raedeke’s have quite the hockey pedigree. Brent’s dad Mike played semi-pro in the South West Hockey League down in Texas in the mid 70’s lacing up for the Amarillo Wranglers and the El Paso/Minot Raiders. Brent’s uncle Mark also made a pretty good run at making it to the big league. Mark was a slightly shorter version of Brent who also played centre and was also a Regina Pats prospect back in the early 80’s. He only played 11 games in the WHL before changing his hockey career path to the C.I.A.U. playing for the University of Regina in 1985 – 86. That led to pro contracts with the Flint Spirits of the IHL and the New Haven Nighthawks of the American Hockey League. Mark even got to suit up for the New York Rangers in 2 of their pre-seasons of the mid 90’s.
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Raedeke is one step away from attending his first NHL training camp, but he knows it will take some more hard work to get there.
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“I’m going to try to work as hard as I can on getting a little bit faster. I know my agent and some scouts have been saying that I need to get a little faster so I’m going to work on my leg strength and work on my foot speed this summer and hopefully, they’ll be improved and help me.”
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Brent lists his 2 role models in hockey as Joe Sakic and Bobby Orr. Apparently somebody, somewhere along the way was smart enough to show Raedeke some old video footage of the great #4. Brent would be better off to not follow Orr’s lead and stay healthy for the remainder of his hockey career. The longer his iron man streak continues, the more he has a chance to get noticed.
