Former Rochester Grizzly Shea getting noticed for right reasons at the next level

Sep. 11—ROCHESTER — Kade Shea is the type of player who isn't noticed ... until he is.

The former Rochester Grizzlies forward is just fine with that role. He thrives on it.

It's a role that he played to perfection last season, when he helped the Grizzlies win a North American 3 Hockey League championship.

And it's a role that has helped the Duluth native continue to climb the junior hockey ladder. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Shea has earned a roster spot with the Anchorage Wolverines — a team that was the runner-up in the North American Hockey League a year ago in its first season of existence.

"It's been a lot of skating, a lot of hard work," Shea said of his brief time in Anchorage so far. "We're building some team chemistry. Coaches told me my role is to be gritty and a tough center to play against; win draws and play on the (penalty kill).

Shea has made the jump to Anchorage because of the trust that former Wolverines head coach Mike Aikens had in him. Aikens coached Anchorage to the NAHL championship game a year ago in their first season as a franchise. He departed last week to take an assistant coaching job at Division I St. Lawrence University in New York.

More importantly for Shea, he has been able to quickly transition to the next level because he plays to his strengths and doesn't try to be a player he isn't.

"He's been really working his way into the lineup and impressing us more and more every day," said Anchorage head coach Evan Trupp, who was an assistant under Aikens last season. "Just watching (Shea) now in game situations, he's reliable. He has speed, we can put him out there in any situation.

"He's been so coachable and around the locker room all the guys love him."

Shea excels at doing the little things that often go unnoticed until crunch time in a tight game. That was the case Saturday, when he and teammates Gage Brown and Kory Diponio plugged away on the Wolverines' fourth line and helped them grind out a 3-2 victory against the Austin Bruins in a preseason game at the Rochester Recreation Center.

The game was a good snapshot of what the season ahead could be like for Shea, and a good snapshot of what makes him so valuable. Shea's line didn't touch the ice much in the second period, as the teams traded multiple trips to the penalty box.

But in the third period, Shea became more and more noticeable. His line took on a regular shift and scored the tying goal with 8 minutes, 6 seconds remaining, a goal on which he earned the primary assist.

Shea then spent nearly a full two minutes on the ice as the Wolverines killed off two penalties to keep the score tied 2-2 with two minutes to play. Just more than a minute later, Wolverines veteran and first-line center Aiden Westin scored the game winner.

"That's how we want to use (Shea)," Trupp said. "Looking down the line, who's going to take key faceoffs? Who's going to block shots? Who's going to do the jobs we need them to do?"

That's what Shea has done — the gritty dirty work that helps his teammates have success — since long before his days as a two-year captain at Duluth Denfeld High School.

He went to training camp with Anchorage prior to last season, credited the Grizzlies coaching staff — head coach Chris Ratzloff and assistant Tyler Veen — with helping him improve as the 2021-22 season went along, and helping him earn the opportunity to play in six games with Austin at various times last season.

"Coach Ratzloff runs a tremendous program," said Shea, who had 11 goals and 30 points in 45 games with Rochester last season. "Kudos to him for all the effort he's put in, and the whole organization, getting us a great place to work out at Mayo ... he wants guys to develop and move up to the next level.

"It doesn't matter as much to him what the outcome of a game is. It's all about player improvement."

Shea is one of three Wolverines who played on Rochester's national title team last season, along with fellow forwards Layton Liffrig and Kyle Bauer. Anchorage goalie Shane Soderwall is also a former Grizzly — he backstopped Rochester to the national championship game in 2021.

"'Ratty' and 'Aiks' being good buddies and working together, using similar systems, those players are already kind of on the same page as we are," Trupp said. "Not only that, but them winning a championship last year, they know what it takes to do that and that's what we want in our locker room, that winning culture."