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Braden Birnie is a former Weyburn Red Wings captain and is now in his third year of Division 1 NCAA college hockey with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. The Weyburn native spent his minor hockey days playing for the U15 and U18 AA Weyburn Wings, then one year with the Regina Pat Canadians U18 AAA team before joining the Red Wings for 2 and a half years. Now playing in his third year in Alaska, transitions are never easy in hockey.
“You can never really prepare for the coldness, even if you're from Saskatchewan you can never really get used to it. It's the same hockey wise. Definitely a bigger step than what I was prepared for. Everybody's so much bigger, faster, stronger and smarter so it's tough. It was a bit of a wakeup call and didn't play much for the first half of the year.”
However, a lot has changed over the years and now entering his third year of college, the initial nerves of moving nearly 4000 km north to play hockey in Alaska have subsided. However, the love of the game has never subsided.
“I'm like 2 days away from going back and I'm definitely a lot less nervous than I have been in years past. Like the first year, I was terrified to go up, didn't really know what I was getting into. Then last year, you're still a little bit nervous and the nerves are still there, but it's definitely more of a comfort thing and you look forward to seeing the guys again and getting back to what you know.”
One of the biggest changes possibly coming to NCAA hockey is the eligibility for CHL players to join. Originally, players who played for any team in the CHL even if it was for one game were banned from the NCAA, a rule that’s been criticized for some years now. Class action lawsuits have been filed against the NCAA and with the possible lift in this eligibility ruling, might change the entire landscape of junior hockey. However, maybe not necessarily for the better as competition for Division 1 schools increases. Birnie believes he may not have gotten the chance to play Division 1 hockey if this rule was in when he started college.
“You know, it'll make everybody a lot deeper, and it'll make it a lot harder to get into. It's different, you know, in a sense where if that was the thing when I committed to school, I probably wouldn't have made it to Division One because I would have been overthrown by those older WHL guys looking to keep playing."
Braden is obviously excited to get back to Fairbanks, Alaska and get back to playing hockey again. Although, his heart and roots are still here in Weyburn, Saskatchewan.
“I definitely miss being around here all the time. I miss playing for the Wings and miss being in the community, but I get a short snippet of it in the summer which is great. I love getting to see everybody again and I love following along during the year to see how the Wings are doing. I'm always watching the games and chatting with Cody throughout the season so getting to be back here in person is always something I look forward to.”
Braden’s first game back with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks is a scrimmage on September 21st and an exhibition match on September 28th against Grand Canyon University before the regular season starts on October 5th against Penn State University.