Playing in the National Hockey League is no small feat.
And that feat was not lost on members of the community as the Humboldt and District Sports Hall of Fame is getting set to induct former NHLer Brad Lauer into the hall.
Lauer admitted the call to the hall came as a bit of a surprise at first.
“I feel very honoured and appreciative that they would recognize me. It was something that makes you feel good to be recognized by your hometown.”
Lauer was born and raised in Humboldt, playing in the minor hockey system until he was 15, when he made the move to Wilcox to play at Notre Dame College.
After one season at Notre Dame College he made the jump to the Western Hockey League where he played three seasons with the Regina Pats.
After his third season with the Pats, Lauer was drafted by the New York Islanders in the second round, 34th overall in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, and made his NHL debut that fall.
“I was very fortunate to actually make the NHL at a young age, I was 19 turning 20. The Islanders were going through a transition period, they just got done winning four Stanley Cups… you need a little luck, you need some timing to help you get your career started.”
Lauer enjoyed two terrific seasons with the Islanders playing in 130 games scoring 24 goals and 56 points before a broken kneecap in the 1988-1989 season, his third in the NHL, caused him to miss nearly the whole season setting back his development.
“It was one of those things where there’s sacrifices and you’ve just got to be determined to do whatever you can to stay there,” he said, noting that those who are still playing are gaining a leg up.
“As you miss a year there’s other guys getting their opportunity to play.”
After the injury Lauer spent the next two seasons splitting time between the Islanders and their American Hockey League affiliates playing 107 games with the Islanders scoring ten goals and 36 points, while playing 18 AHL games scoring nine goals and 22 points.
That was the last season Lauer would play full time in the NHL as he would split four of the next five seasons between the International Hockey League and the NHL playing 72 games with the Islanders, Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa Senators, and Pittsburgh Penguins, playing all of the 1994-1995 season in the IHL.
After playing 21 games with the Penguins in 1995-1996, Lauer’s NHL career came to an end.
He finished his NHL career with 323 games played, scoring 44 goals and adding 111 points.
Looking back at his career Lauer says it was a dream come true to be able to play in the NHL, especially after being drafted and playing his first NHL game.
Lauer, realized he made it to a place he had been working towards for a long time.
Lauer says he had a pair of moments early in his career that made it really sink in that he was playing in the NHL. He says it was pretty surreal when he was told that he needed to find a place to live by the general manager when he had made the team.
The second moment came during his first NHL game, which came at the Old Chicago Stadium, he says.
“(It) was known for how loud and crazy the National Anthem was and something like that is something to experience.”
After the 1995-1996 season Lauer would play six more seasons of professional hockey, playing five in the IHL before finishing his career in the British Ice Hockey Superleague.
During his final season with the Sheffield Steelers of the BISL in 2001-2002, Lauer took on the role of player-coach, which he says was not all that uncommon at that time.
“There was only two coaches at the time so if they were occupied you’d be able to do drills or run something in practice while the coaches were occupied with other players.”
Being able to help out on that coaching staff was really helpful he notes, saying he was looking into potential careers post hockey.
“I enjoyed the responsibility and working with the younger kids coming up in the pro ranks and when it was time to retire from playing it was a little bit easier of a transition,” he says noting he knew what to expect.
It did not take long for Lauer move from playing to coaching as he joined the Kootenay Ice as an assistant coach in the fall of 2002, where he helped lead the team to five straight playoff appearances.
After five seasons behind the bench as an assistant coach with the Ice, Lauer moved on to join the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, where he helped guide the team to a 107 point season and two straight playoff berths.
After his second season with the Admirals Lauer took an assistant coaching position with the Ottawa Senators, becoming the first former Senator to serve on their coaching staff.
Lauer was fired from his position in Ottawa in 2011 and has since spent time as an assistant coach with the Syracuse Crunch, Anaheim Ducks, and Tampa Bay Lightning, a position he currently holds.
Through the course of his life Lauer has had the chance to spend a great deal of time around the game of hockey and says it just continued to develop, noting players are bigger, faster, and more skilled, and coaches have become more technical.
“Every game is being recorded through the internet so it’s a lot easier for coaches to be able to pre-scout teams and there are no more secrets between teams because of technology.”
Lauer notes he was really lucky to have had the career that he has and says a portion of that is thanks to him growing up in Humboldt.
“When I was growing up as a kid there would be empty ice and I’d be down at the rink and they’d let you go on the ice and you go practice and skate around. You don’t get those opportunities in a big city with empty ice to be able to go on.”
Humboldt was also a very tight knit community and everybody was willing to help out in any way they could which made a for a great atmosphere, Lauer notes.
For kids in Humboldt looking to follow in Lauer’s footsteps, he says the most important thing they can do is set dreams and goals.
“I think it’s important to have dreams and goals and really focus on achieving those,” says Lauer who notes that is also true for kids looking to be doctors, lawyers, firefighters, police officers or anything else.
Lauer, along with Kelly Bates, Wendy Toye, Jerome Engele, and the 2007-2008 Humboldt Broncos will all be inducted into the hall at this year’s induction ceremony on June 24.
To read more about Jerome Engele and Kelly Bates check out the May 24th and May 31st Humboldt Journals respectively.
For more information on the remaining inductees check out the Humboldt Journal in the coming weeks leading up to the June 24 induction ceremony.
