By Nate Thompson
LocalSportsJournal.com
MUSKEGON -- The Raap family has a photo of their son, Ty, maybe 6 or 7 years-old at the time, smiling ear-to-ear while donning a Muskegon Lumberjacks jersey in the stands at Trinity Health Arena in Muskegon.
Few athletes ever get the chance to play for a team they cheered for passionately during their childhood, but for Ty Raap, now 16, he may soon realize that dream.
Raap, a towering 6-5, 196-pound defenseman, whose family had season tickets to the Lumberjacks for four years while he was growing up, was drafted by the club during the United States Hockey League’s Tier I Draft on May 5. The team, along with the other franchises in the USHL, selected from a pool of players born in 2009. Raap was selected in the 14th round, and was one of the tallest players picked in the entire draft.
Raap, who most recently played with the AAA Under 15 youth hockey club Long Island (NY) Gulls, said he received word that he was drafted while he was playing in an elite invite-only prospect tournament in Philadelphia, the World Selects Invitational.
“I was actually in the shower at our hotel room when I got the call,” Raap said with a laugh. “It was 11:30 at night. But my dad and I were so excited, we just started jumping up and down. The coaches texted me and then called me and just said ‹Congratulations, and we can’t wait to coach you up at practice.’”
Raap said he had “no idea” that the Lumberjacks were interested in selecting him.
“There were two other teams that I thought really wanted me,” he said. “But I did know that the Lumberjacks saw me play before (US 15U) nationals, so I felt like they got a good glimpse of the type of player I was.”
For Raap, the moment shared with his dad, Adam Raap, was a culmination of a passion for the sport that started when he first started skating around the age of 4.
“As a kid watching hockey, I always thought it was just adults playing, but I remember watching a game and seeing a little kid on the ice. I asked my parents if I could do that, too.”
Two weeks later, Raap was skating on his own, and he’s never slowed down.
Although his siblings, brother Lane and sister Tenley, never played the sport, the Raap family were close friends with the Abdelkaders, whose son Justin, starred on the ice at Mona Shores High School, then at Michigan State University, and reached the pinnacle by playing 11 full seasons with his home-state club, the Detroit Red Wings. From afar, Abdelkader was always Raap’s idol, a local hero that showed playing professional hockey was possible. And with that to shoot for, Raap has dove head first into becoming the best player he can be.
Raap cut his teeth playing with local youth clubs such as the Lakeshore Chiefs, the Lakeshore Junior Lumberjacks and Fox Motors Triple A. But he decided to take a huge leap of faith when the Gulls’ coaching staff reached out to his family, gauging his interest in moving to New York and playing with one of the most respected youth clubs on the East Coast.
The decision meant moving away from his family at the age of 15, staying with a host family -- called a billet family in the hockey community -- and taking online courses for school.
Raap said he was overwhelmed at times at how crowded Long Island was, but was beyond thankful for the opportunity to expand his skill set.
“They play way faster out there,” he said. “It just really helped me expand my game, my skating, puck handling, my overall IQ. Just everything improved way better.”
During the 15U AAA regular season with the Gulls, Raap played in 57 games, recording six goals and 21 assists. Raap said with his size, he’s earned a preconceived notion that he’s a physical menace on the ice. While he’s not afraid to lay some bone-crunching checks, Raap takes pride in being a complete player on defense. He said he’s been able to expand his skills -- his skating, passing and decision making -- with years of work with Andrew DeBrincat, the younger brother of Detroit Red Wings’ right winger Alex DeBrincat, a Farmington Hills native. Andrew runs the DeBrincat Hockey Training for private and group training and has also worked with the Lumberjacks as the team’s Skills Coach.
“I give so much credit to Andrew DeBrincat,” Raap said. “He’s helped me develop a lot as a player these last 3-4 years. There would be several times when he’d wake up at 4 a.m. and come meet me for 7 a.m. skates before I went to school.”
Although Lumberjacks head coach Colten St. Clair said he’s tremendously excited about Raap’s size and untapped potential, it’s highly unlikely he’ll suit up for the ‹Jacks for their 2025-26 season, although they’ll still maintain his rights.
“There’s no promises, but it’s more likely I’ll be playing with Muskegon the following year,” Raap said. “My family is really excited, just because they don’t have to travel all over to watch me play.”
In the meantime, Raap is set to play for another well-respected youth program, U16 Honeybaked out of Detroit, which provides top of the line training and coaching for up-and-coming players.
“I’m leaving in August for Detroit,” Raap said. “We should have a really good team there.”
As for his long-term future, Raap said he has thought about playing college hockey. He said he’s received some early recruiting interest from a couple of Division 1 schools, but says for now he wants to keep it “on the downlow.” But he admits playing for an in-state school such as defending national champion Western Michigan University, or Michigan or Michigan State, would be a dream come true.
If anything, Raap said he’d love to follow the career path of Lumberjacks alum Quinn Hutson, who played college hockey at Boston University and just signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Edmonton Oilers in April.
“We’ll see what happens, but yeah, that’s definitely my long-term goal,” Rapp said, of playing in the NHL.
LocalSportsJournal.com
MUSKEGON -- The Raap family has a photo of their son, Ty, maybe 6 or 7 years-old at the time, smiling ear-to-ear while donning a Muskegon Lumberjacks jersey in the stands at Trinity Health Arena in Muskegon.
Few athletes ever get the chance to play for a team they cheered for passionately during their childhood, but for Ty Raap, now 16, he may soon realize that dream.
Raap, a towering 6-5, 196-pound defenseman, whose family had season tickets to the Lumberjacks for four years while he was growing up, was drafted by the club during the United States Hockey League’s Tier I Draft on May 5. The team, along with the other franchises in the USHL, selected from a pool of players born in 2009. Raap was selected in the 14th round, and was one of the tallest players picked in the entire draft.
Raap, who most recently played with the AAA Under 15 youth hockey club Long Island (NY) Gulls, said he received word that he was drafted while he was playing in an elite invite-only prospect tournament in Philadelphia, the World Selects Invitational.
“I was actually in the shower at our hotel room when I got the call,” Raap said with a laugh. “It was 11:30 at night. But my dad and I were so excited, we just started jumping up and down. The coaches texted me and then called me and just said ‹Congratulations, and we can’t wait to coach you up at practice.’”
Raap said he had “no idea” that the Lumberjacks were interested in selecting him.
“There were two other teams that I thought really wanted me,” he said. “But I did know that the Lumberjacks saw me play before (US 15U) nationals, so I felt like they got a good glimpse of the type of player I was.”
For Raap, the moment shared with his dad, Adam Raap, was a culmination of a passion for the sport that started when he first started skating around the age of 4.
“As a kid watching hockey, I always thought it was just adults playing, but I remember watching a game and seeing a little kid on the ice. I asked my parents if I could do that, too.”
Two weeks later, Raap was skating on his own, and he’s never slowed down.
Although his siblings, brother Lane and sister Tenley, never played the sport, the Raap family were close friends with the Abdelkaders, whose son Justin, starred on the ice at Mona Shores High School, then at Michigan State University, and reached the pinnacle by playing 11 full seasons with his home-state club, the Detroit Red Wings. From afar, Abdelkader was always Raap’s idol, a local hero that showed playing professional hockey was possible. And with that to shoot for, Raap has dove head first into becoming the best player he can be.
Raap cut his teeth playing with local youth clubs such as the Lakeshore Chiefs, the Lakeshore Junior Lumberjacks and Fox Motors Triple A. But he decided to take a huge leap of faith when the Gulls’ coaching staff reached out to his family, gauging his interest in moving to New York and playing with one of the most respected youth clubs on the East Coast.
The decision meant moving away from his family at the age of 15, staying with a host family -- called a billet family in the hockey community -- and taking online courses for school.
Raap said he was overwhelmed at times at how crowded Long Island was, but was beyond thankful for the opportunity to expand his skill set.
“They play way faster out there,” he said. “It just really helped me expand my game, my skating, puck handling, my overall IQ. Just everything improved way better.”
During the 15U AAA regular season with the Gulls, Raap played in 57 games, recording six goals and 21 assists. Raap said with his size, he’s earned a preconceived notion that he’s a physical menace on the ice. While he’s not afraid to lay some bone-crunching checks, Raap takes pride in being a complete player on defense. He said he’s been able to expand his skills -- his skating, passing and decision making -- with years of work with Andrew DeBrincat, the younger brother of Detroit Red Wings’ right winger Alex DeBrincat, a Farmington Hills native. Andrew runs the DeBrincat Hockey Training for private and group training and has also worked with the Lumberjacks as the team’s Skills Coach.
“I give so much credit to Andrew DeBrincat,” Raap said. “He’s helped me develop a lot as a player these last 3-4 years. There would be several times when he’d wake up at 4 a.m. and come meet me for 7 a.m. skates before I went to school.”
Although Lumberjacks head coach Colten St. Clair said he’s tremendously excited about Raap’s size and untapped potential, it’s highly unlikely he’ll suit up for the ‹Jacks for their 2025-26 season, although they’ll still maintain his rights.
“There’s no promises, but it’s more likely I’ll be playing with Muskegon the following year,” Raap said. “My family is really excited, just because they don’t have to travel all over to watch me play.”
In the meantime, Raap is set to play for another well-respected youth program, U16 Honeybaked out of Detroit, which provides top of the line training and coaching for up-and-coming players.
“I’m leaving in August for Detroit,” Raap said. “We should have a really good team there.”
As for his long-term future, Raap said he has thought about playing college hockey. He said he’s received some early recruiting interest from a couple of Division 1 schools, but says for now he wants to keep it “on the downlow.” But he admits playing for an in-state school such as defending national champion Western Michigan University, or Michigan or Michigan State, would be a dream come true.
If anything, Raap said he’d love to follow the career path of Lumberjacks alum Quinn Hutson, who played college hockey at Boston University and just signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Edmonton Oilers in April.
“We’ll see what happens, but yeah, that’s definitely my long-term goal,” Rapp said, of playing in the NHL.
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
https://legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
