Recuperating from injury, Jake Redden was a spectator Saturday as his new team, the St. Albert Raiders, came from behind to defeat his former club, the Lloydminster Lancers, in a homecoming game for the Lloyd boy.
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Built like a man, the six-foot-two, 200-pound Redden has dressed for just two regular-season games with St. Albert as he continues his recovery from surgery last January to repair a dislocated shoulder that abbreviated his sophomore season with the Lancers.
The 17-year-old forward was in search of a fresh start when he moved to St. Albert for his final year of U18 AAA eligibility in the Alberta Elite Hockey League. He tweaked his ailing shoulder in early October action with the Raiders, but he believes his absence won’t be prolonged this time around.
“It’s feeling better,” Redden said during St. Albert’s 6-5 victory at the Cenovus Energy Hub. “Every day is a new day. It keeps getting better. I feel better about it every day and hope to get back on the ice at the start of this week and get playing in a few weeks.
“I played a few games at the start of the year and kind of had a little tweak in it. But I’m just rehabbing it back to normal again and getting it to where I feel comfortable with. More on the mental side, where I’m comfortable playing with, (than) the surgery part.”
‘GOOD OPPORTUNITY’
Redden played 10 games with Lloydminster before he was sidelined early last season. After his Jan. 8 surgery, he didn’t skate for about five months. In the spring, he was able to resume skating and lifting.
“The off-season came and the coach in St. Albert gave me a good opportunity to come play here (with the Raiders), so I took it,” Redden said.
“I got cleared at the end of July, so I was good for August and good for camp.”
He also spent a week at the junior A Bonnyville Pontiacs’ main training camp.
After missing most of last season, Redden wanted to position himself for a strong final year of U18 and enhance his chances of playing junior hockey afterward.
“The personal move was just for me in my (development),” he said. “We started off last year (with the Lancers) and it wasn’t a great experience. And my first year was kind of different.
“But, just meeting some guys in St. Albert was huge, and becoming really good friends with them, that drew me to St. Albert, along with the coaching staff and everyone. I’ve got an awesome billet family there. My billet dad was one of my dad’s friends growing up.”
Jake’s uncle, Wade Redden, had a long and distinguished career as an NHL defenceman. But the high school senior doesn’t wear his uncle’s No. 6 on the ice.
“If I was a defenceman, I would have followed in Wade’s footsteps,” Jake said. “But no, I’m just trying to be my own player. I’m proud of my last name, proud of what everyone has done.”
His father Bart was a forward who played junior A hockey in Lloydminster and North Battleford before skating at the NCAA Division 1 level with Lake Superior State University.
With his St. Albert team, Jake Redden wears No. 34, for practical purposes.
“It was kind of the only jersey that was an extra-large that could fit me,” he said with a laugh. “I never have had that (number) before.”
When he’s healthy enough to play again, Redden can count on his size and strength, befitting his family’s Hillmond farming roots.
“Yeah, I do like to think of myself as a physical presence, which is something we could have been using today,” said Redden, whose Raiders fell behind 4-1 in the second period before mounting their comeback.
“But yeah, (waiting to) get back to it, and hopefully have a big season, a big second half.”
Such positive results would be good news not only for Redden, but also the Raiders as they familiarize themselves with the newcomer.
“Yeah, I don’t know how long he’s going to be out (of the lineup),” said St. Albert coach Geoff Giacobbo.
“But I know he’s a good skater, he’s got a good shot, he’s willing to be physical, and he’s a great teammate. He’s been great with our guys.
“We don’t really have a very big sample size, because of the injury, right now. Jake came to our camp and he got concussed. So, he missed most of main camp, and then he started to play in our tournament, played two or three games, hurt his shoulder, tried to come back, played one and a half league games, and then he’s been out since.”
LANCERS ‘OK WITH THAT’
Redden’s sample size is perhaps even smaller for Chris King, the new coach of Lloydminster’s revamped U18 AAA program.
“I only saw him skate once or twice,” King said. “He did a couple of skates (with Lancer prospects in the spring), and then that was it. We let him go. He wanted to leave, and we were OK with that. He’s probably a better fit in St. Albert than in our program. That being said, we’re happy with the guys we have.”
At the same time, King wished Redden well on and off the ice.
“He was injured a lot, so hopefully for his sake, he gets healthy,” King said. “If he wants to continue playing hockey, he’s going to need to get healthy at some point.
“I know he didn’t play last season, from what I’ve heard from the boys, and this season he’s already not playing again, so it’s tough with those shoulders and heads, because you could lose your career that way.
“But no, he wasn’t in our mix.”
The Lancers’ mix includes just four players who were U18 AAA teammates with Redden — Rhett Romanchuk and Denton Setzer for two years, and Logan Flewell and Connor Nickle for one season.
LLOYD COMP STUDENT
While living in St. Albert, Redden is finishing his Grade 12 studies online, setting himself up
to graduate from Lloydminster Comprehensive High School next spring.
Redden attended the Calgary Hitmen’s WHL training camp last season. He hopes to explore similar junior opportunities beyond this season.
With the Lancers, he scored two goals and eight points in 10 games last year, and five goals and 10 points in 32 games the previous year as a rookie.
This season, he picked up an assist Oct. 5 in his second league game with the Raiders.
Redden’s battles with shoulder injuries go all the way back to his U15 AAA days.
“In my second year of U15, I dislocated my shoulder pretty badly in a tournament, and then rehabbed from that,” he recounted. “My first year of U18, nothing bad really happened, and then the start of last year, my shoulder started coming out and it dislocated fully 10 games into the year, and I missed (almost) the full year last season.
“Then, at the start of this year, I kind of had a little tweak in it. But I should be back (playing) in a couple of weeks and good to go.”
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