ECHL: Rapid City Rush Forward Signs to Play in Denmark for the 2024-25 Season

Rapid City Rush forward Blake Bennett has signed to play with the Odense Bulldogs in Odense, Denmark of Metal Ligaen for the 2024-25 season.

Collegiate Career

Blake Bennett started his collegiate career in the 2019-20 season at American International College (AIC), where he played Division I hockey for four seasons. Bennett only played in three of the four seasons he spent at AIC, as he did not play any games his freshman year. In the three seasons he played at AIC, Bennett played in 80 games, where he had 44 goals and 28 assists for 72 points. He had 57 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +11. After completing his senior season at AIC, Bennett joined the Rapid City Rush in the ECHL to finish the 2022-23 season.

Rapid City Rush Career

After joining the Rapid City Rush towards the end of the 2022-23 season, Bennett played in 15 games where he had one goal and four assists for five points. Bennett then re-signed with the Rush for the 2023-24 season, during which he played in all 72 games. Through the 72 games, Bennett had 35 goals and 28 assists for 63 points. He had 38 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -8.

Impact on the 2024-25 Rapid City Rush (Opinion)

The loss of Blake Bennett could be a huge loss for the Rapid City Rush in the 2024-25 season, as Blake Bennett was one of Rapid City’s top point players. Rapid City has now lost three of their top five point players from 2022-23, with Brett Gravelle, Keanu Yamamoto, and now Blake Bennett all heading overseas. With the Rush losing Blake Bennett, they are losing a lot of speed as Bennett was one of their fastest skaters who was able to use his speed to spring himself on breakaways or to help get back to prevent the opposing team from getting an odd man rush or breakaway. Bennett was also one of the few highlights of Rapid City’s powerplay that struggled for most of the 2022-23 season, as he had 16 points on the powerplay throughout the season. Bennett was able to find a lot of success with the Rush, even though the team as a whole struggled a lot throughout the season.