Corridor Cross Checks: Nico Blachman battles through career as hockey vagabond

CEDAR RAPIDS - Check out his page on the internet hockey database www.hockeydb.com. It’s all you need to know about Nico Blachman’s career.

Never in one place for too long. Never in one league for too long.

Never quit, keep playing the game he loves until no one gives him a sweater anymore. He has played for 20 junior, college and professional teams in 10 years, the 20th being the Iowa Heartlanders.

“My journey has been long, but, honestly, my hockey journey has been my life,” said Blachman, a winger who will turn 26 Thursday. “I left home at 13, and ever since it has kind of been a new team every season, a new place to live. You meet a lot of people. Yeah, it has been long, it has been eventful. But it’s been awesome, it’s been great. It’s made me who I am today.”

There’s very little about the engaging Blachman’s story that’s not interesting. He grew up in Aventura, Fla., a kid who played roller hockey before transferring over to ice.

He went to prep school at Shattuck-Saint Mary’s in Minnesota, where one of his teammates was Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller.

“I had 24 points in 50 games, and he had 163 points in 50 games,” Blachman said.

Determined to make his way in hockey, but realizing he wasn’t the most skilled player around, Blachman decided he would play an enforcer-ish role from then on. He secured an invitation to tryout camp for the Sioux Falls Stampede in 2014 and was added to the United States Hockey League club’s affiliate roster after getting into five fights in four camp games.

“I realized ‘Wow, that’s what I’ve got to do,’” he said.

He played four regular-season games later that season with Sioux Falls, then seven the next season for the USHL’s Chicago Steel, but sitting 15 minutes in the penalty box for any altercation (five for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct) was a deterrent, so he found his way to Quebec to play for the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

He bounced mostly around Canada for the next four years, including a stint in Canadian college hockey before turning pro. Blachman has played for eight teams in the ECHL, one in the Southern Professional Hockey League and one in the Ligue Nord-Americaine de Hockey in Quebec.

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This season alone, he has been with Kalamazoo, Adirondack and Iowa of the ECHL and the Laval Petrioliers of the LNAH. Acquired off waivers from Adirondack in March, Blachman has an assist and 40 penalty minutes in 11 games for the Heartlanders.

“I told him at times you’ve got to play on the edge, but you can’t cross the line. For the most part, he’s done that,” said Heartlanders Coach Derek Damon. “With him in the lineup, we are above .500. He gives us something I thought we were lacking. We’ve gotten pushed around a little too much this year. When he has been in the lineup, that hasn’t been the case. Having a guy like that is important.”

“Guys that play this role are a lot harder to come by now days,” Blachman said. “I truly believe they are necessary. You are starting to see it a lot more now in the NHL. For me, it’s a decision I’ve made. I’m not scared to (fight). I’m going against an another man, I’m confident in myself. I thought ‘Yeah, I’ll do it, if it helps me.’”

Blachman has a wife, Sarah, and 10-month-old daughter, Ella Sofia, who have been by his side this hockey season everywhere he has gone but Coralville. The family will be reunited when the Heartlanders’ season concludes this weekend.

A more permanent situation would be very nice. But Blachman wants to play hockey as long as he can, keep improving his overall game and provide a physical element.

“It has been a long journey, but I still feel fresh, I feel young, I feel like I still can keep it going,” he said. “I’d love a little more stability because I have a daughter. But it’s been beautiful being able to live in so many places, meet so many people.

“In the locker room, I like cracking jokes with the boys. I love that stuff, and I think that’s my favorite part of the game. We’re pretty much still kids when we walk into that locker room. Yeah, we have a job to do, and it’s serious business, this job is my whole life, it’s all I’ve got. It’s as serious as it gets, but at the same time, we play a kid’s game for a living.”

The final week

Both Corridor clubs close their 2023-24 seasons this week.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders have their home finale Friday night at 7:05 against Des Moines, then travel to Dubuque for a Saturday night game. The Riders officially were eliminated from United States Hockey League playoff contention last week.

Fan Appreciation Night for the Riders includes prizes given out throughout the game.

The Heartlanders host the Kalamazoo Wings on Wednesday night and Friday night at 6:35. Fan Appreciation Night is Saturday night at 6:05 against the Kansas City Mavericks.

The club is sponsoring a pregame tailgate from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Xtream Arena plaza outside the main entrance. Games, food trucks and beverages will be available during the tailgate, with prizes given out such as Heartlanders jerseys, zamboni rides, team store gift certificates and other things.

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