It’s safe to say that Max Hildebrand exceeded all expectations in a Prince Albert Raider uniform.
Hildebrand was the second last player selected in the 2019 WHL Prospects Draft when Prince Albert selected the netminder with the 286th overall selection in the 13th round. The Raiders have not selected a player in the 13th round in the last five drafts from 2020-2024.
Everything throughout Hildebrand’s WHL career was earned, never given. After spending the 2020-21 COVID-19 bubble season as the third string netminder for the Raiders, Hildebrand didn’t make the team out of training camp in the 2021-22 campaign.
After spending some time with the Flin Flon Bombers in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), Hildebrand would appear in five games towards the end of the season.
It took until Hildebrand’s 19-year-old season for him to become the bonafide number one netminder in Hockeytown North posting a 25-20-2-2 record, a 2.88 Goals Against Average, a .907 save percentage and two shutouts.
Hildebrand says he wanted the starting position and worked hard to be able to earn it.
“It’s just one day at a time and competing for that job I wanted. Just having fun while doing it. It’s the biggest thing and coming to the rink with these guys and the teammates I’ve had in the past, they made it so easy for me. The coaching staff, I just can’t thank them all for the opportunity. It’s been a blast.
“I just can’t say enough about the people here in this organization. The teammates I’ve had the privilege to play with and just be with throughout it all. It’s been the time of my life, for sure. Something I’ll never forget just (with) the growth I had here.”
It wasn’t the most picture perfect start to the 2024-25 campaign for Hildebrand and the Raiders. After losing 10-1 to the Vancouver Giants on Oct. 19, Prince Albert sat towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with a 2-7-2-0 record.
The Raiders would rally to a 39-23-5-1 record to finish on top of the WHL’s East Division, finishing just one point clear of the Brandon Wheat Kings and two ahead of the Saskatoon Blades.
Hildebrand says Prince Albert was able to gel as a team as the season went along.
“We sat on a bus 20 hours home from Vancouver with no windshield wipers. We were close to last in the league and we just weren’t sure what was going to happen. All we knew is we had a game the next weekend and we wanted to win. We just kept grinding away. It just shows what kind of character we had in this room all year. Guys came together, we had a lot of new guys to start the year. We knew it wasn’t going to be pretty at all times just with all the new characters and stuff but we got the job done. We learned so many lessons throughout the year that paid dividends in the playoffs in that first series.”
Hildebrand was a major reason for the Raider turnaround appearing in a league leading 55 games posting a 33-16-5-0 record, a 2.87 Goals Against Average, .918 save percentage and three shutouts.
At season’s end, Hildebrand earned nominations for several league awards including the Del Wilson Memorial Trophy which is awarded to the WHL’s top goaltender, Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy for Humanitarian of the Year and Four Broncos Memorial Trophy for WHL Player of the Year. Hildebrand was the only netminder nominated for WHL Player of the Year.
Because of his strong play and work in the community, Hildebrand quickly established himself as a fan favorite in Prince Albert.
In his 19-year-old season, the Raiders debuted a one night per season rebrand being known as the Lake Country Cobra Chickens. The first game as the Cobra Chickens, Hildebrand helped Prince Albert down the archrival Saskatoon Blades in a shootout with Hildebrand performing a wing flap celebration. That celebration inspired the creation of a Hildebrand bobblehead for the second year of the one night rebrand in his 20-year-old season. Hildebrand delivered with a shutout in a 5-0 win over the Regina Pats.
Hildebrand says he enjoys the memories of the Cobra Chicken games, but the final stretch of the regular season and playoff run stick out the most in terms of memories from Prince Albert.
“When you come here to training camp and you’re a young guy, I came here right after they won and just watched the videos of when (Dante) Hannoun scored that OT winner. Obviously I didn’t do anything like that, but the Cobra Chicken thing was cool. My two favorites that have stood out to me here are probably when we beat Saskatoon for the division, Drago (Lukas Dragicevic) scored late. I’ve never heard this building that loud in person. That Game 7 win against Edmonton after being down and out three games to one, just being able to flip that net over just one more time and having the Hauser horn go off, it’s something I’ll never forget.”
Growing up, Max could often be mistaken for his dad’s shadow. Max’s father, Steve, is the associate general manager of the Saskatoon Blades and has been involved with the team in various roles for more than two decades.
Max would often tag along with his dad and would hang around the rink and Saskatoon dressing room when he was growing up.
“Everything I ever learned before getting here about junior hockey off the ice, it all came from him.” Max explained. “Just being around the dressing room and I just can’t thank him enough for all the support and always being there for me and letting me roam around the room when I was a kid and it probably wasn’t too fun for him all the time.”
Throughout the season, Steve was a common sight at the Art Hauser Centre watching his son play wearing a dark jacket with a dark Saskatoon Blades logo on it. Max says his dad did make one exception to his usual wardrobe choice.
“At the end of the day, he was wearing a Raiders jersey for Game 7 in the Art Hauser (against Edmonton). I never thought I’d see that, but it was fun to see (and the) boys loved it.”
Hildebrand is committed to play for the Bemidji State Beavers next season. Bemidji State is an NCAA Division I school located in Bemidji, Minnesota. The Beavers compete in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA).
sports@paherald.sk.ca
