Tanner Butler was on top of his game during his final season with the RDC Kings hockey team.
The Souris, Man, native led the ACAC in scoring for defencemen for the second straight season and was named the ACAC male hockey player of the year.
Even then he wasn’t sure what the future held. He had a degree in Kinesiology but there was still a slight desire to continue his hockey career.
“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue playing hockey or not, but the opportunity came up and I decided to take a shot,” he said.
The Evansville Thunderbolts of the SPHL (Southern Professional Hockey League) offered him a tryout for the 2019-20 season.
But it was in the 2020-21 season that Tanner got an opportunity to fulfill one of his goals.
“Last season Evansville was shut down because of Covid so I got an opportunity to play in Sweden. I always wanted to play in Europe, it was one of my goals, so when the opportunity arose I jumped at it.”
Tanner doesn’t have an agent so he used a contact he made while with Evansville that led to his time overseas.
“I knew a guy from there and I contacted him and he got me in contact with another guy who gave me the name of a team (Lindefallets SK),” he explained.
Butler played three games with the Division II squad before the pandemic forced it to shut down.
“I sat around for about a month and finally was able to catch on with a Division I team (Tyringe SoSS) where I played nine games. It was a great experience.”
Something he hopes to do again.
“Eventually I’d like to go back to Europe to play, travel and experience other countries.”
But that’s down the road for the five-foot-11, 190-pound 28-year-old, who is the all-time scoring leader among defencemen for the Kings.
He played five years with RDC after finishing his junior career with Dauphin. He played 145 games for the Kings, scoring 31 goals, 81 assists for 112 points, which is third on the team behind of Erin Ginnell (157 points) and Chris Lenz (117).
Tanner looks back at his days with the Kings with fondness.
“Schooling was very important and I always wanted to find a place (in college) that was comfortable for me,” he said. “Head coach Trevor Keeper took me under his wing and helped me develop. I also found friends and teammates which made the move from Manitoba a lot easier.”
When Tanner decided he’d take a shot at pro hockey he was hoping to play in the ECHL.
“That first year when I went down south I was hoping to catch on in the ECHL but it didn’t work out. But I also took that first year to get used to the pace of pro hockey and by the end of the year I found my stride.”
Overall he didn’t feel there was much difference between the SPHL and the ACAC.
“It’s the fourth league in North America and there’s players from Division III in the States, a couple ACAC players and some from U Sport,” he said. “There’s really not much of an adjustment from the ACAC.”
After playing briefly in Sweden in the 2020-21 season Tanner felt he’d return to Evansville.
“I went back to Evansville and was looking to build up my game … make the extra adjustments to play in the ECHL,” he said.
He did just that as late in the season he was called up on loan to the ECHL by Indy Fuel. He played six games, scoring once and adding an assist.
“I expected to play two games, but ended up playing six,” he said. “They said they liked what they saw and the coach had nothing but good things to say.”
He hopes that’s the step in the right direction.
“Next season I’ll head back down south and hope to get the opportunity to play full time in the ECHL. I just want to continue to build my resume and then possibly head back to Europe.”
Butler has had a solid season with Evansville, playing 49 games with eight goals and 12 helpers.
Once this season is over he’ll head back to Red Deer for the summer, working for the city and training at RDP.
He still keeps in touch with his former RDC teammates, many of whom still live in Red Deer.
“I have a lot of good buddies in Red Deer. School brings in a lot of guys and they really like the city and decide to stay. So it makes it easier to go back in the summer.”
He’s also still single which makes it easier to move around.
“For sure if I had a family it would be a lot tougher.”
Danny Rode is. retired Advocate writer and member of the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame who can be reached at danrode@shaw.ca