It was a successful first season at the NCAA level for Max Hildebrand.
The former Prince Albert Raiders star netminder appeared in 24 games last season for the Bemidji State Beavers posting an 8-14-2 record, an .895 save percentage and a 2.71 Goals Against Average.
In an interview with the Daily Herald, Hildebrand says it was a bit of an adjustment having to manage his responsibilities both on the ice and in the classroom.
“It’s pretty similar to your early years in the WHL when you had to balance school and hockey. Obviously the hockey side, everyone’s a little older, everyone’s a little faster, which you gotta get used to that pace. In that way, it was a big learning year for myself and I definitely learned a lot, how to balance everything again, because I was out of school for (a few) years. It was just a big learning season for me.”
Overall, the Beavers finished in sixth place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) standings with an 11-11-4 record in conference play. Bemidji State was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Augustana Vikings.
“As a group last year, I thought we had a super good start to the season and we had a rough stretch in the middle.” Hildebrand explained. “I thought we finished pretty well as a team. Had some big weekends towards the end of the season there. Obviously, we fell in the first round. But as a team, we want to go further into the playoffs this season.
“Obviously, that’s going to happen with a good start and keep rolling from there. But for myself, just start to feel more comfortable every game, don’t take any opportunity for granted and earn every start I can get.”
Hildebrand began the season splitting duties in the Beaver crease with junior Raythan Robbins. After the Christmas break, Hildebrand took on the lion’s share of the starts for Bemidji State. He earned his first CCHA shutout on the road in Mankato against the Minnesota State Mavericks on Feb. 14. Both games that weekend ended in 1-0 scores.
With his first season of college hockey behind him, Hildebrand says the adjustment period is over and he’s ready to get back on campus this fall.
“I’m just excited for next year, just feeling more comfortable with my surroundings and Bemidji. We had a great group of guys coming back and they’re all super tight. Similar to how it was in PA, it’s kind of a smaller hockey town, which makes it a super easy transition for me because you’re always close to the guys. That’s a huge thing with college hockey, just being super close to your teammates. You are together every day, I’m just excited to get back there and see how far we can take it this year.”
Hildebrand won’t be the only Raider alumni suiting up for Bemidji State this fall. Brayden Dube, who aged out following this past season is one of several WHLers set to don the Beaver sweater this fall. Other former WHLers expected on campus in Bemidji this fall include Brady Birnie (Penticton) and Aiden Ziprick (Moose Jaw).
Hildebrand says he’s looking forward to welcoming Dube and the others to the team this fall.
“I’m super excited to have Duber coming this year. It’s going to be awesome. I think he’s going to be great for our team. As far as off the ice goes, I’ll be there for him, whatever he needs, we’re pretty close here. I’ve been to PA a few times and hung out a little bit lately, so it should be good. We got like six western league guys coming this year, so it should be good to have some familiar faces around the room. I get to gel with them and bring them into the culture, it should be great.”
While the CCHA doesn’t get the most attention on the national stage, goaltending was a strength of the conference last season. For the first time ever, a US Collegiate Selects team was sent to compete at the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland last December.
Of the three goaltenders on the Collegiate Selects roster, two came from the CCHA. Former Battlefords North Star Josh Kotai (Augustana) and Alex Tracy (Minnesota State) both made the trip to Europe to represent college hockey on the international stage.
Hildebrand says he wants to reach the level of those two goaltenders and get an opportunity to compete at the Spengler Cup if he can.
“Those goalies that went last year, some of the best goalies I’ve ever played against as far as (Josh) Kotai, (Alex) Tracy and (Adam) Gajan, I believe were the three. They’re all moving on to pro hockey this year as they should, and that’s obviously a goal for me. To be a part of that select team would be unbelievable to go over Switzerland. That would be a really good experience, and that’s definitely a goal of mine in the future for sure.”
With several months to go until the next hockey season, Hildebrand is back home in Martensville for the summer. He’s also resuming his duties as the equipment manager for the Western Canadian Baseball League’s Saskatoon Berries.
During the Raiders run to the league final, Hildebrand made some trips up to the Art Hauser Centre to take in some games in person. He was joined by several other Raider alumni including Eric Johnston, Landon Kosior, Keaton Sorenson and Nolan Allan amongst others.
“It’s pretty cool just because we were all there together” Hildebrand said. “We had former guys come back all the time, so now to be in those shoes and get to come back and watch the guys, it’s pretty cool. I don’t get to see those guys a lot. It’s cool for me to hang out again and have beer on them. I know a lot of other guys wanted to come too. I know Drago (Lukas Dragicevic) was trying, but they were still in the playoffs. But he was ready to not even go home and come right to PA.”
