If it hadn’t been for watching old Edmonton Rush highlights on his television as a child, Tyden Redlick never would have considered becoming a lacrosse goaltender.
“I pointed to the TV and told my mom, ‘I want to play lacrosse,’” Redlick said, reflecting on how he first started playing the sport. “From that point on, I started playing lacrosse in the summer after my hockey season ended.”
Now, he is chasing a Minto Cup with his new teammates for the Whitby Warriors, fresh off a trade from the Edmonton Miners.
Redlick hails from St. Albert, Alberta, in the northwestern part of Edmonton, and grew up like most Canadian kids with the hopes of playing in the National Hockey League. However, after watching lacrosse highlights, he instantly fell in love with lacrosse, more importantly, the goaltender position.
“I think the biggest part about the highlights was watching Aaron Bold score an empty net goal”, said Redlick. “Being a goalie comes with its ups and downs, but I knew I wanted to try it.
That’s me in the red!!! pic.twitter.com/7Nrzsgm1Tv
— Tyden Redlick (@Reddy2005) March 28, 2020
Redlick didn’t just attempt to be a goaltender; he was forced to stay in the role.
“My best friend and I were the two goalies for the team, and one day in practice, he got hit in a spot where no goalie wants to get hit, and he said ‘I’m done’ and from that point on, the net was mine and I never left it.”
Deciding to stick as a goaltender wasn’t a hard choice, as Redlick already had some background being a goalie in hockey. But his goaltender journey took Redlick further than he could have guessed, including the nation’s best tournament for minor lacrosse players: the Canada Summer Games.
That tournament helped set Redlick on the path he is currently on, making the switch to lacrosse full time.
Once Redlick had decided to step away from hockey, he turned his focus to honing his skills in lacrosse. He was given the opportunity to play at an NCAA school in Georgia, but decided to go a different route than playing down south and instead declared for the National Lacrosse League draft, where he ended up in California.
“I was out with some buddies playing golf when my mom called saying that I was drafted by San Diego”, said Redlick, surprisingly. “I had no intentions of getting drafted, so I was just so happy when I saw it myself on the NLL website.”
Tyden Redlick vs Carter Linkletter 🥊
— Garrett Eddy (@garretteddy2) June 12, 2025
When was the last time you saw a Goalie vs Player fight? pic.twitter.com/qpJB1T5oJ6
That was a major moment for Redlick, who moved to San Diego for the season. He was able to soak up plenty of lessons and advice from goaltenders Chris Origlieri and Mike Poulin, as well as learning from head coach Pat Merrill.
“One big thing I learned from Pat was that ‘no one is perfect and to not get down on yourself,’” said Redlick. “I would get frustrated with myself at times, and Pat would tell me not to overcomplicate things and to remind myself, ‘I know what I have to do and remember why you’re here,’ which helped me and allowed me to be the best I could be for being a rookie in the league.”
As a player who still has junior eligibility, gaining experience in the NLL is always beneficial. Redlick has been able to use the many takeaways and apply them to his game back in junior lacrosse in Alberta.
Yet, with the Edmonton Miners a non-contending team and Redlick a hot commodity as a goaltender, he brings his professional background from a big city in Alberta, to a small town in Ontario.
“My manager in Edmonton told me that Joel Watson [the General Manager of Whitby] would be giving me a call, saying that you’ve been traded there,” said Redlick, eager for a new opportunity. “I was so excited that I wanted to get on the next flight out to Ontario and get started.”
Watson was happy to acquire Redlick, for both his character and his play between the pipes.
“It’s not often you find someone with his passion and knowledge in the game as a 20-year-old,” said Watson. “We know that he has Minto Cup experience from when the Miners hosted in 2023, and we think he can help our team win another Minto as well as teach our young goalie in Cooper Wilson, the ways of junior A lacrosse.”
Now with Whitby and having experienced the hotbeds of Ontario lacrosse – Orangeville, Peterborough, Oakville, and Beaches–Redlick is eager to return to the Minto Cup tournament, but knows it won’t be easy going through Ontario.
“This is the hardest place to play lacrosse,” Redlick said, talking about the level of competition. “The caliber of players that play in the OJLL is top-tier, and anybody can beat anybody on any given day, and whoever joins St. Catharine’s will have earned their way there, because it’s going to be a brutal and exciting playoffs to watch.”
Redlick quickly picked up on the mantra for the Warriors team, and hopes to use it throughout the playoff run.
“The first thing I learned from this team is that you play the game in 10-minute increments,” Redlick stated when talking about the locker room. “But it’s more than just 10 minutes at a time, it’s about the guy sitting next to you in the dressing room and remembering that these guys will pour every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears into this team to raise another Minto Cup banner at Iroquois.”
Redlick has played in six games for the Warriors and has recorded a 9.15 goals against average coupled with a .789 save percentage, with two games left in the regular season. But he came to Ontario with one goal in mind: to become a national champion.
“That’s the goal, hold that Minto Cup trophy in my hands,” said Redlick, thinking about what could happen. “When we lost to Coquitlam in the semifinals in our barn, that was gut-wrenching, and I don’t want that feeling ever again. I’ve won some big tournaments before and been crowned provincial champions, now I want to say ‘I’m a national champion’”.
The Whitby Warriors are currently in fourth place in the OJLL standings with a 12-6 record, and with teams three through six all within four points of each other, the final week of OJLL games will be fun to watch as the playoffs are almost upon us.