Redden on the Raiders: Hockey never a sure thing for Paddock

In the spring of 2018, goaltender Max Paddock made waves across the junior hockey world as he backstopped the Regina Pats to the Memorial Cup final on home ice, stopping 44 of 46 shots in a semifinal victory over Hamilton before stopping 41 of 43 in a 3-0 loss to Acadie-Bathurst in the championship.

That same year, Paddock made the difficult decision to say goodbye to the sport he grew up with.

“Basically, ever since I was born, I had a volleyball in my hand. A lot of my closest friends played on my volleyball team, not just hockey players. It was a real fun sport for me, and it was tough to give it up,” he said.

While playing Midget AAA hockey in his hometown of Brandon, Paddock found a way to continue being a two-sport athlete, although it wasn’t easy.

“It was always tough to balance everything. It would go hockey practice, volleyball practice, then supper at like 9 p.m. but it was good, I loved the sport,” Paddock said.

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He played in high school, on club teams, and on provincial teams competing across the country before switching to hockey full-time when he joined the Pats in the fall of 2017.

Why was he so interested in volleyball? Well, he came by it honestly.

Paddock’s father Russ is a former Olympian, representing Canada at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in men’s volleyball (the last time Canada qualified for the sport until Rio de Janeiro 2016). Russ was a long-time member of the Canadian national volleyball team and played professionally in Belgium before moving back to Manitoba before Max was born.

Formerly a high school coach at Vincent Massey in Winnipeg, Russ moved his family to Brandon in 2005 to launch the men’s volleyball program at Brandon University. In seven years under Paddock’s guidance, the Bobcats captured two Canada West silver medals (2009, 2011) along with CIS bronze (2009) and silver (2011) medals. In 2012 he transitioned to the role of Athletic Director, which he maintains today.

Russ isn’t the only athlete in the family, as Max’s uncle John played professional hockey for over 10 years, and now serves as the General Manager of the Regina Pats. John and Russ’ brother Gord played seven years professionally in the AHL and IHL.

The three brothers grew up together along with four sisters on a farm in Oak River, Man., where Max says they spent most of their time skating on the pond in the yard or at the rink, playing baseball in the summer, or letting themselves into the school gym to play any other sport they could access.

The athleticism doesn’t all come from the Paddock side of the family, however. Max said his mother Stephanie was active in track and field and in swimming, while her brother Vaughn Karpan was a longtime member of Canada’s national men’s hockey program. Playing in 228 games with the national team, the former Brandon Wheat King competed in the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo as well as the 1988 Olympics in Calgary alongside Marc Habscheid.

Karpan is now the director of player personnel for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Whether it was volleyball or hockey, or any other sport for that matter, it seems Paddock was destined to thrive at whatever he chose. Now with the Prince Albert Raiders, he’ll be a key part of the team’s success moving forward.

Central time

In an interesting scheduling quirk, the Raiders are currently in the midst of a 14-game run against teams outside the East Division.

Two of those teams are from B.C. (Prince George and Victoria) while the other 12 games come from likely the strongest division in the league, the central.

As the East Division playoff rate continues to tighten, with just eight points separating first and fourth place, the Raiders and Wheat Kings appear to have the most difficult road ahead.

Thanks in part to this Central Division detour, the Raiders will play 17 of their final 23 games (74 per cent) against teams currently sitting in a playoff spot. The Wheat Kings are in a similar spot with 18 out of 24 (75 per cent) against playoff teams, and those two sides will still be seeing each other four times before all is said and done.

Division-leading Winnipeg has 15 playoff teams on the radar out of 24 remaining games (63 per cent) while the fourth-place Blades seemingly have the best chance at making up ground with just 13 of their final 25 games (52 per cent) against teams currently in the playoff picture.

Unlike last year, when the Raiders led from start to finish to run away with the division, it looks like a compelling race remains over the final two months of the regular season.

Part III

On Friday night, the Raiders and Edmonton Oil Kings will meet for the third time in 14 days to wrap up their four-game season series.

Back in November, the Raiders handled the Oil Kings 6-3 at Rogers Place, but the last two have been much tighter. Edmonton took a shootout victory at the Art Hauser Centre on Jan. 17, while Prince Albert was victorious in overtime back in Edmonton last Friday.

Will they go back to extra time again tonight, sending the Raiders past regulation for the fifth-straight game? Or will the trend end tonight?

We’ll find out.

Pie day

Head coach Marc Habscheid was a good sport this week, showing up at the Carlton Crushes Cancer girls basketball game between Carlton and Melfort Thursday night.

The game has become an annual tradition with a new host every year, with the goal of raising as much money as possible in the fight against cancer.

Over $1,000 was raised to pie Habscheid alone, and a good chunk of the team was there to “help out.”

Altogether, over $100,000 was raised for Palliative Care in Prince Albert by the organizers of the game. It was incredible to see the community come together like that for a great cause, and of course when there’s money to be raised in Prince Albert, Malcolm Jenkins is always near.

The owner of Canadian Tire made a contribution of $25,000 to the game, continuing his impressive legacy of philanthropy.

Hockey Night in Prince Albert

On Saturday, the Raiders will suit up to promote organ donation as the Medicine Hat Tigers come to town.

The annual event is run in partnership with the local branch of the Kidney Foundation, the Logan Boulet Effect, and Green Shirt Day [coming April 7]. All jerseys worn that night are available for auction up until 11 p.m. Friday night, with proceeds toward the Kidney Foundation.

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Trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden