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RODE: Cody Reynolds the perfect fit to coach RDP Kings

Cody Reynolds was named the RDP Kings hockey coach earlier this month
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Danny Rode is a former Red Deer Advocate sports reporter.


Cody Reynolds was the perfect choice to take over as interim head coach of the RDP Kings hockey team. 

Reynolds has been involved with the Kings and head coach Trevor Keeper since their rebirth in the 2013-14 season. 

Keeper left this year to join the University of Regina Cougars. 

“I’m looking forward to it,” said Reynolds, “A lot of things will be the same and yet some different.” 

The Kings have a storied history, winning 11 ACAC titles, including the past three. 

“It’s exciting to be part of the program, as the history is there,” added Reynolds, who is looking forward to taking over an established team. 

“It’s different from taking over a brand new team, as the familiarity is there. There’s less pressure as I know the guys, I know the people who support the team, I know the area and the facility, which makes things a lot sweeter personally for me and my famil.y” 

RDP, formerly RDC, holds a special place for the Reynolds family. 

“I graduated from RDC and met my wife (Heather), so we have tons of memories. Since my kids (daughters Adley, 8, Emilia, 6, and 4-year-old son Hays) have been born I’ve always coached at RDP and they only know their dad as coach of the Kings. They are huge fans and my dad is a season ticket holder. 

“So that’s special to have that family element to it and makes it much sweeter for me to have this opportunity.” 

Cody actually joined Keeper the year before the Kings returned from their nine-year absence, coaching the RDP Queens for one year. 

“I learned a lot coaching with Trevor and I’ll always be grateful to Keeps. He was the first guy to give me the opportunity to be a coach. He was there my whole career as coach and I learned a ton from him.” 

Cody is also taking over a winning program. 

“That’s another piece to it. I want to do a good job as Trevor left it a better program than the one we started and that’s something tough to follow up on.” 

Still, he’ll take a lot from what he learned from Keeper and add his own touch. 

“He was a very good recruiter and put together a very good roster and one that wasn’t just good on the ice, they were even better people. That was something very important for us in building a program.” 

Cody realizes that in building a championship team, it takes talent and, just as important, character. 

“Having character in the room is second to none,” he said. “We had a great group of guys and I’m looking forward to working with them and putting my stamp on some things as well, but continuing lots of the great stuff Trevor has let behind.” 

One thing Keeper always looked for in his recruiting was leadership, looking for captains and assistant captains on their junior teams. 

“You can’t take lightly what that means for a team on and off the ice,” said Reynolds. “That leadership was big for us in developing good players and good men when they leave the team.” 

Cody felt that leadership was evident in the playoffs. 

“Last season, for example, we struggled at times during the season, but the guys had the belief, which was something to see. When you establish a winning culture, there’s an element there that’s hard to see, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to put a finger on it. But the guys who have been through it had that hunger and drive that fueled the team. They took us to another level. 

“That was neat to see and be part of and it gives us a great foundation going into next year.” 

The Kings have a strong base, needing only a goalie, two rearguards and three forwards. 

“We have one spot to file on defence and one up front, and we’re just finalizing those two spots, and it could be this week,” said Reynolds. 

Coaching with the Kings gave Cody an opportunity to expand on that side of the game. He coached the U18AAA Red Deer Optimist Chiefs in the 2020-21 season and has since been involved with Hockey Alberta, working as an assistant coach for 2023 Alberta Winter Games and will be head coach for the Western Hockey League Cup, set for late October at the Red Deer Centrium. 

“I got the opportunity to coach the U18 Chiefs and we had a really good team,” he said. “But it was during the COVID year that we had our season cut short in the middle of November.” 

It was over the next several months that Reynolds felt helped him grow even more as a coach. 

“We continued to coach and had between 50-52 practices. It was a great experience as we had to find ways to ensure the guys were engaged and teaching them stuff so they were happy to keep coming to the rink.” 

Eventually even the on-ice practices, and some games, were cancelled. 

“But we maintained the commitment to keep working with the guys, holding zoom calls, until March,” explained Reynolds. “We shifted to the mental side, lining up guest speakers such as mental performance coaches. It was different, but a great experience as a coach.” 

He took a year off after the COVID year, for the birth of his son, before returning to the Kings in the 2022-23 season. 

His involvement with the Kings and Chiefs grabbed the attention of Hockey Alberta. 

“I can’t say enough good things about Hockey Alberta,” Cody said. “Expectations are high and they demand a lot so I learned a lot in a very short time from some very good coaches when I had a chance to coach at the Winter Games. 

“The WHL Cup gives me a chance to work with another group of great coaches. We started the process in October. It’s an exciting challenge and will have some pressure, but I’m excited about it.” 

Team Alberta won the Cup last year. 

“Means more pressure,” said Cody with a laugh. 

Reynolds will need some time off from his commitments with the Kings during that time, but has a “very good” staff working with him. He’s also excited about working with the top-end players, many of whom were draft picks in this year’s WHL draft. 

“There’s a great pool of kids. We saw some during the Alberta Cup and there’s a lot of talent. There’s also a lot of talent coming up.” 

Some of that is from Central Alberta in players like Madden Daneault, who helped the Red Deer Rebels win the provincial U15 AAA championship, and Red Deer’s Ian Kim who was the top scorer at the Prospects Cup. 

“Just to name a couple,” said Reynold. “There is some really good kids from central Alberta. 

Cody does work with some of them with his Lakeside Hockey Development in Sylvan Lake, who does evaluations for teams during the season and works with small groups of kids during the summer. 

He also works with Graham Parsons and his hockey school. 

“I’m a director for on-ice personnel,” explained. He’s also a teacher at a Sylvan Lake middle school. 

“So very busy,” he laughed. “But everyone enjoys it, my whole family and my wife is a saint, allowing me to do all this.” 

Reynolds did say, to end off, that he had received offers from junior programs as well. “But the college is a good fit. Its schedule is one of the reasons I’ve been around for so long.” 

And a reason he hopes to stay for some time in the future. 

Danny Rode is a retired Advocate reporter and member of the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame who can be reached at danrode@shaw.ca