Presented by Chevrolet
+++
Photo credit: Garrett James Photography
Story by Ethan Vandop
Nathan Free began his hockey journey at the age of two, largely inspired by his dad, who played hockey himself.
Fast forward over a decade to 2019, Free was playing for the Calgary Royals under-15 minor hockey program. After plenty of success, Free began to receive interest from teams looking to recruit him when he was just 14 years old. One of those teams just happened to be his current BCHL club, the Brooks Bandits.
The Bandits really took notice of Free during the 2021-22 season, where he piled up 15 goals and 13 helpers in 36 games for the Royals under-18 squad. The Calgary, Alta. native then began practicing with the Bandits during the season, which he says played a big part in his decision to join them full time the following season.
“I was practicing with them during their championship season,” he said. “I fell in love with the team and the town and I wanted to spend my junior hockey career here.”
In his rookie season with the Bandits in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), he put up 35 points in 49 games, helping them finish first in the league and eventually win a league and national championship, an experience that Free cherishes to this day.
“My favourite junior hockey experience was definitely winning the national championship my rookie year at 16,” he said. “That was super fun.”
The next season was another highly productive one for Free as well. He put up a combined 65 points in 60 games and, after the Bandits joined the BCHL last February, helped lead the team to yet another championship, this time the Alberta Cup.
Now in 2024-25, through 42 games in his first full season in the BCHL, Free has already smashed his career-highs in goals, assists and points, as he currently leads the Bandits in all three categories with 27, 29, and 56 respectively.
Free attributes his increased success this season to growing as a player, taking on more responsibility within the team, plus working closely with the team’s skills coach.
“I’m just older and I’ve been maturing and improving,” he said. “I have a bigger role on the team this year, so that’s just correlated to more points.”
“Kevin [Yellowaga] is our skills coach in Brooks and it’s just kind of a funny coincidence, but I’ve been doing skills with him since I was about six or seven years old.”
As one of the top NHL Draft eligible players in the league, earlier this season, Free was chosen to skate in the 2025 BCHL Top Prospects Game in Salmon Arm.
“It was super fun, just getting to meet some of the guys on teams that we battle with every night and to kind of see them away from the rink and off the ice,” he said.
When Free was just 16, and before he had even played a regular-season game of junior hockey, he was approached by Penn State University regarding his collegiate playing future.
“It was pretty sudden,” he said. “I was 16 and we got the offer from them. We were pretty excited and we really liked how they went about the process of talking to me and my family. We thought it was the right spot for me and I committed right away.”
With his eyes set on the rest of the season, Free is focused on keeping up with his current offensive pace, while doing what he can to help his team win a BCHL championship in their first full season in the league.
