There are moments in sport where everything changes.
For Weyburn’s Braden Birnie, it happened in a blink or more accurately, with 1.1 seconds left on the clock.
“That one was just so crazy,” Birnie said this week on The SportsCage. “You’re thinking, this might be it, and then the puck’s sitting there.”
That puck sitting on the goal line in a semifinal at the Independent Cup in Alaska turned into a tying goal. The next night, Birnie helped set up the overtime winner in the United Collegiate Hockey Cup. Just like that, his NCAA career ended on a high note.
Sixteen hours later, he was packing his life into bags.
A short time after that, he was a professional hockey player.
The path didn’t happen overnight, even if it feels like it now.
The 24-year-old’s journey is a familiar one to Saskatchewan hockey fans. Minor hockey in Weyburn. A development year with the Regina Pat Canadians. Junior stops with the Weyburn Red Wings and Steinbach Pistons. Then, a leap few ever get Division I NCAA hockey in Alaska.
“I didn’t know if I was ever going to get a Division I offer,” Birnie admitted. “When it came, I thought I’d be crazy not to take it.”
He didn’t just take it, he ran with it.
Over four seasons, Birnie carved out a reputation not just as a player, but as a leader. A letter on his jersey. Trust from coaches. Respect from teammates.
And now, the next step.
Birnie is now a member of the Rapid City Rush in the ECHL, an affiliate of the Calgary Flames.
“It’s pretty cool to hear that. I’ve got lots of friends and family that are big Flames fans.”
The opportunity came quickly, but it’s one he wasn’t going to pass up.
“I always said I wanted to make some money playing hockey at some point,” Birnie said with a smile. “So I can check that one off.”
But this isn’t a bucket-list moment. It’s a beginning.
The jump from NCAA to pro hockey is never easy, but Birnie believes his time in Alaska prepared him for it.
“Every step you take, it builds. College hockey did such a good job preparing me, the skill, the compete, everything.”
Still, the reality hits fast.
New systems. Faster pace. Older, stronger players. And the pressure to prove you belong immediately.
“I think that’s exactly what it is,” Birnie said. “An opportunity to prove yourself.”
So far, so good.
He already has his first professional goal.
For all the travel, the milestones, and the sudden jump to the pro ranks, Birnie hasn’t lost sight of where it started. Weyburn.
“The number of texts, people following along, watching games, it means a lot,” he said. “I’m proud to call that place home.”
That support system, family, friends, coaches, and billets have been with him every step of the way. And it’s part of what drives him.
“You just try to make them proud,” Birnie said.
When it comes to what is next, for now, there’s no grand plan. No big declarations. Just a mindset that got him here in the first place.
“Head down and work,” Birnie said. “Be the best person I can be every day and see where the journey goes.”
It’s a simple approach.
But if the last few weeks are any indication, it’s working just fine. Because somewhere between a last-second goal in Alaska and a jersey in Rapid City, Braden Birnie didn’t just take the next step. He kicked the door open. And he’s just getting started.
