Hononegah alum Jarrod Rabey makes mark on college hockey

Jarrod Rabey is living the life of a college hockey player.

The sophomore defenseman at St. Cloud (Minn.) State University has played in 16 games with three assists to his credit for the No. 18th nationally ranked Huskies.

But the journey to playing college hockey hasn?t been easy for the Hononegah alumnus.

?I?ve worked my way up,? Rabey said.

After discovering the sport at age 7, Rabey played for the Rockford Roadrunners in the Rockford Hockey Club before moving on to the Madison Capitals, a youth hockey organization in Wisconsin. Then came five seasons with the Milwaukee Junior Admirals before leaving to play for the Indiana Ice (Indianapolis) of the US Hockey League, which is the top junior ice hockey league in the country for ages 20 and younger. The USHL is strictly amateur, allowing former USHL players to compete collegiately.

?During that time, it was a lot of traveling with my parents in the car,? Rabey, 20, said. ?During the season, my parents drove eight months out of the year to Milwaukee three times a week when I played for the Admirals. I was gone every weekend. It was a lot of sacrifice.?

While playing for the Indiana Ice, Rabey got a chance to see the St. Cloud State men?s hockey team in action. It wasn?t long before he toured the campus and decided he wanted to play his college hockey there.

?I love St. Cloud State. The coaches were great when I came up. I just felt at home.?

Rabey made an impact right away for the Huskies as a freshman. Injuries sidelined some of the team?s forwards, so he move up to that position and played in 37 games, registering six goals and eight assists as the Huskies advanced to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five for a fifth time.

?Jarrod is a very physical and imposing defenseman with very good offensive skills,? St. Cloud coach Bob Motzko said. ?The future looks good for Jarrod and we think he still has his best hockey still in front of him.?

Rabey hopes to play professional hockey, but he?s more concerned about the second half of the season: The Huskies will take on the University of Denver on Friday.

?We have a lot of team chemistry this year,? he said. ?Our goal is to keep working hard and hopefully win a national championship.?

Brenda Young: 815-987-1388; byoung@rrstar.com; @brendafyoung

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Profile: Jarrod Rabey
College: St. Cloud (Minn.) State University
Class: Sophomore
Sport: Hockey
High school: Hononegah
College highlights: Played defense and offense for Huskies in 2011-12 ?posted first collegiate goal at Northern Michigan ?played in 37 games as a freshman with six goals and eight assists to his credit ?played junior hockey in US Hockey League at Indiana in 2010-11.

Source: http://www.rrstar.com/sports/x1503800130/Hononegah-alum-Jarrod-Rabey-makes-mark-on-college-hockey

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