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Windspeaker Contributor
BRASOV, ROMANIA – A well-travelled Indigenous professional hockey player once again finds himself suiting up for a squad abroad.
Wacey Rabbit, a member of the Blackfoot Nation from the Blood reserve in Alberta, is currently toiling with the ASC Corona Brasov Wolves.
Brasov is a city in the Transylvanian region of Romania.
Rabbit is averaging more than a point per game with the Wolves. He’s earned 22 points (10 goals and 12 assists) in 19 matches.
The Wolves compete in the 10-team Erste Liga. Besides Romania, the league also includes squads from Hungary and Austria.
Rabbit has helped the Wolves win 15 of their first 25 games this season. They’re currently tied for second place in the league standings.
Rabbit, a 33-year-old forward, had been drafted by the Boston Bruins in the 2005 National Hockey League’s Entry Draft. He was the Bruins’ fifth-round pick, 154th over-all.
But he’s never played a single game in the NHL. Instead, he’s found himself frequently criss-crossing continents to earn a living. The Wolves are the 11th stop on his pro resume.
Rabbit’s pro playing career has also included stints with clubs in Croatia, Norway, Japan, Italy and Czech Republic.
Rabbit spent the 2018-19 campaign with the Florida-based Jacksonville Icemen of the ECHL (formerly East Coast Hockey League). He led the Icemen in scoring by collecting 60 points, including 29 goals, in 70 contests.
Besides the Icemen, Rabbit also had a brief stint in the ECHL with the Cincinnati Cyclones.
He’s also played for three different franchises – Providence Bruins, Milwaukee Admirals and San Antonia Rampage – in the higher calibre American Hockey League, the top minor pro circuit in North America.
Rabbit spent the majority of junior hockey career with the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League (WHL). But in his final season of junior eligibility he was traded to the Vancouver Giants.
Rabbit helped the Giants win the top prize in Canadian junior hockey, the Memorial Cup, in 2007.