Houks enjoys family ties with U of R Cougars men’s hockey team
Rod and Eric Hook share family ties with the University of Regina Cougars men’s hockey team.
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Eric and Rod Houk are together but apart and are on the Regina Cougars men’s hockey team.
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Eric is a first-year forward for his hometown Cougars. His father, Rod, is the team’s goalkeeping coach.
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“We talk about games when we’re at home,” Eric Hook said. “He’s usually on the ice with the goalie before practice. By the time his 15-20 minutes are over with the goalie, he’s off for Regina Putt Canadiens or the Rebels. He doesn’t come to full practice, but if I can help him by shooting goalies before practice, I will.”
Rod’s presence is one reason Eric joined the Cougars after a junior hockey career that featured stops with the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos (2018-21) and SJHL’s Esteban Bruins (2021-22) .
“The main reason is that I was away from home for four years,” Eric said. “It’s not that I didn’t enjoy those years because I got to meet two great Billet families in Swift Current and Esteban. Both my parents (Rod and Tracy) went to college in R and I My sister (Aubrie) is going there, so it made the most sense to me, and a lot of my friends were also adopted by U of R, making it easier to balance hockey, school, and home life.”
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Rod has enjoyed welcoming 21-year-old Eric home while attending college.
“He always knew he wanted to play U Sports hockey once his junior hockey career was over,” said Rod. I’ve been away from home since , so it was a good time to come home.He’s starting a business and Regina has a very good business program.”
The family’s ties to the R Hockey program have continued for many years. Rod was the Cougars’ goaltender during the 1986-87, 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons. He spent his 1987-88 and his 1988-89 with Regina He Pats in his WHL.
Canada West Hockey Player of the Year in 1990, Rod was inducted into the University of Regina Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.
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“I hear from people who played with him that he was a great goalkeeper,” said Eric. “He had an interesting path of going to the Cougars, then to putting, then back to the Cougars, which is unprecedented in hockey today. It’s great that he was a big part of those teams. That’s it.”
Eric spent two seasons with the Pat Canadiens before joining the Broncos. He has appeared in his 134 games in his current season with the Swifts and has scored 12 goals and he has six assists.
He scored for the Bruins, having 18 goals and 28 assists in 55 regular season games. He scored 3 goals and 10 helpers in 16 games during the Bruins’ playoff run to his 2021-22 SJHL Championship. He added his four goals and his one assist as the Bruins finished with his 1-4 record as the hosts of his 2022 Centennial Cup team.
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“The playoff run was like a storybook ending with Game 7 at home, so it was definitely a great experience,” Eric said. “Other than his cup at Centennial, which was not ideal, I am really happy with his year.”
Eric has yet to show a similar scoring touch to the Cougars, who have one assist in 13 games.
“We had a lot of chances last year and we scored a lot of goals as a team,” said Eric. “Looking at this year’s team, I’d like to chip in more aggressively. If we keep doing the little things right, hopefully there’s a few more things to come.”
The Cougars are struggling in their current Canada West campaign. With the Cougars heading into his Friday/Saturday doubleheader with the UBC Thunderbirds at the Cougars Center, he’s eighth (3-10-0-0-1-0) in the nine-team conference. The Thunderbirds (8-6-0-0-1-1) have him fifth.
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“I think it took us a while to find our identity, but we’re getting there now,” Eric said. will be needed
mmccormick@postmedia.com
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Houks enjoys family ties with U of R Cougars men’s hockey team
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