Luke Reid, who spent last season with the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League, played two seasons of U-18 AAA in the Battlefords community growing up. This week he heard his name called at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. (Submitted photo/Luke Reid)

By Martin Martinson

Realizing a Dream

Former AAA Stars standout, Reid drafted to Predators

Oct 10, 2020 | 12:00 PM

It has been a week 19-year-old, Luke Reid will not soon forget.

Wednesday his lifelong dream of being drafted to the National Hockey League (NHL) came to fruition. The Warman, Sask., product was selected by the Nashville Predators in the sixth round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, 166th overall.

Reid said while he’s always dreamed of hearing his name called on the biggest stage, being selected by a team with a winning culture like the Predators, makes the experience especially thrilling.

“It’s been pretty crazy,” Reid said with a laugh, reflecting on his last couple of days. “It’s every kid’s dream to get drafted, so it’s pretty cool. And it’s an honour too, just to have an organization as good as Nashville want to give me an opportunity. It’s really exciting, and I want to do my best to try to prove them right.”

Should Reid’s name ring familiar to hockey fans in the Battlefords, that is because it wasn’t all that long ago the young defenceman was patrolling the blue line for the local AAA team in the community.

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Just five years ago, at the age of 14, Reid took one of his first benchmark steps in his hockey journey, suiting up to play at the U-18 level with the AAA Stars in the fall of 2015.

After commuting back and forth from home much of his first year with the team, the following season, Reid moved to the Battlefords full-time for the duration of the hockey season. He said he still looks back fondly on his time spent in the community.

“It was awesome,” Reid said, reflecting on his time with the Stars. “It’s a great organization and I had a really great time. It really helped me develop my game, and it was a lot of fun.”

That pure enjoyment for the game is always something that has come naturally for Reid. When asked at which point he began taking his craft seriously as a potential career, he said there’s never been a time he didn’t absolutely enjoy the process of honing his skills.

Whether it be hours spent skating till dark on the outdoor rink, or staying late after practice to fine-tune his shot, the dynamic rearguard’s worth ethic has always been present, thanks largely to his immense passion for the game.

“[Making it here] was always a dream, and I always worked for it, so there wasn’t really a time when I thought ‘okay I want to put in the work now,’” Reid said. “I just love it so much I want to put in the work all the time and have just kind of kept going with it.”

Reid, who spent the last two seasons with the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League, will make his NCAA debut this season with the University of New Hampshire.

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1