Vandehogen Calls It A Career

Blenheim’s Brett Vandehogen will be moving on to new challenges this Fall, when typically the local hockey product would be heading to training camp.

Vandehogen has decided to hang up his skates after finishing a five year OUA career, and playing last season in the professional ranks.

“It was a lot of fun playing hockey and having the opportunity to consider the sport I love my job for the year,” explained Vandehogen about getting the opportunity to play professional hockey. “Pretty interesting experience flying and busing all over the US on long road trips. Gave me the opportunity to get to know my new teammates pretty quickly, as so many players came and went throughout the year.”

The forward, who captained the OUA’s University of Windsor Lancers in 2012-2013, is moving to Alberta, where he’s been hired by a local school board to teach.

In 2013-2014, Vandehogen started the season with the Central Hockey League’s Brampton Beast where he scored 5 goals and 2 assists, and added 46 penalty minutes in 37 regular season games. After parting ways with the Beast, Vandehogen caught on with the Southern Professional Hockey League’s Mississippi Surge, where he scored 3 goals and added 3 assists in 19 games.

When the open of training camps across North America gets underway in the coming weeks however, Vandehogen knows he’ll miss the game he loved.

“I know come September I will greatly miss chasing that puck around the ice, but fortunately, I have the excitement of my new career in teaching to focus on rather than the end of my days playing competitive hockey,” explained Vandehogen.

Although the former Chatham Maroons stars playing days are done, he hopes to one day return to Chatham-Kent to enter the coaching world and continue his teaching career.

“I’m excited to get into coaching and hopefully have an impact on young athletes, as so many coaches have had on me.”