Alec Regula, Hockeytown’s new ‘hometown kid’

By @MichaelCaples –

Dr. Chet Regula is still trying to process Saturday’s life-changing moment for his family.

Hard to blame him.

Less than 48 hours ago – at least when speaking to MiHockey for this article –  his son, Alec, had been drafted by his hometown Detroit Red Wings in the third round of the 2018 NHL Draft.

“I think it’s almost still unbelievable to think that two things: one, that he would’ve gone as high as he did and then second, by his hometown team,” said Dr. Regula, a dentist whose family resides in West Bloomfield. “This is an amazing blessing. If you were picked by any one of the 30 teams, he’d be on a jet and he’d be gone. Here, he’s home, he’ll get in the car and drive down to Little Caesars (Arena) tonight to meet the team. It’s a remarkably different, refreshing perspective. I thank God and count our blessings that this is not a dream.”

Alec Regula during the 2014 Bantam Minor state title game, which his Honeybaked squad won against Compuware. (Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey)

If you haven’t heard by now, he’s not just any dentist, either – he’s one of the Red Wings’ official dentists.

“Yeah, they were my favorite team growing up, all the way,” Alec said just moments after the team selected him No. 67 overall in Dallas. “My dad was the dentist for them for a while, so, I mean, I’ve been to a lot of games and stuff like that and I’m really familiar with the program.”

Team dentist. Important gig for a hockey team. Great opportunities for a young hockey player, too.

“I actually really loved Valtteri Filppula growing up,” Regula said in his draft interviews.

Upon consultation with his dad, you realize it wasn’t just because No. 51 was a smooth skater on the ice.

“Valtteri, he got close with him,” Dr. Regula said. “He’s just a wonderful guy. That relationship was always his favorite. Valtteri actually took him under his wing, it was very nice, very gracious.

“As I recall, Valtteri wandered back into the medical room and Alec was standing over in the corner and maybe Alec had asked him for an autograph.”

Both Regulas did point out the impact Nick Lidstrom had on the new member of the Red Wings, of course. ‘The Perfect Human’ was his “favorite all the way through,” according to Alec. Should be – any aspiring defenseman in Michigan had the opportunity to learn from No. 5 even just from watching, let alone being in the locker room with him from time to time.

“It was much looser back then than the conditions today,” Dr. Regula said about his family meeting the Wings. “Actually, there was an article done on me way back when and in the article there’s a picture of me sitting with Alec in the stands. And Alec at that point was 5, 6, 7 years old. Now it turns out to be very poignant photo. He got some very nice exposure to what he could be and from that I think built a dream.”

The ties to Hockeytown’s team made Alec’s draft moment that much more special.

“Dream come true, especially by my hometown, it’s just an unbelievable feeling,” Alec said. “Can’t describe it.”

Dr. Regula went into more detail about the experience Monday afternoon.

“[The Wings] had three minutes on the clock and prior to that, I could see that the Wings went over to four-and-a-half minutes. I could see a lot of activity… We were hoping, and I think the Wings had another pick in that third round, which was maybe 10 or 12 spots later. Not knowing at the moment what was going on, it was just a lot of activity, and then when they said, ‘the Red Wings pick from the London Knights…’ As soon as they said London, we knew it was Alec. It was just incredible, amazing and it’s like we’re thinking he’s got 30 other possibilities here, and how lucky can you be? If I’m a betting man, I don’t think I’m taking a 30/1 bet, but yeah it was pretty amazing. Obviously, it took a while to truly settle in. I don’t know if it’s still settled in.”

As of draft day, Regula hadn’t visited the new Little Caesars Arena; playing for the London Knights of the OHL made it hard to visit his favorite team’s new stomping grounds. However, he’s already familiar with some of the players on the current roster, though in a different way than previous generations of Detroit stars.

“…I work out at 2SP in Madison Heights, there are a lot of Wings that work out there – Justin Abdelkader, Gus Nyquist, Jimmy Howard, they’re in there every day, Xavier Ouellet, so I see those guys a lot,” Alec said. “They’ll probably be pretty pumped when I get back.”

 

High school hero

MiHockey asked Regula for his favorite youth hockey memory during his draft interviews; he gave a nod to his old high school in the process. After playing for Compuware and Honeybaked, Regula made the decision to play against players significantly older by joining his high school hockey program in the fall of 2014.

“I think my favorite hockey memory growing up in Michigan, I think my No. 1 was winning a state championship with Cranbrook. That was awesome, my freshman year, and that’s kind of when my career started picking up. That was an awesome feeling, something I’ll remember forever.”

Alec Regula, then a freshman with the state championship-winning Cranbrook squad. (Photo by Andrew Knapik/MiHockey)

 

Dr. Regula said that was an exciting time for the family, as both Alec and his older brother C.J. were both on the Cranbrook roster.

“He has a brother that’s active in hockey, and he and his brother were playing on the same team. The Cranbrook experience, which was limited for him because as a freshman he made the varsity team, which is a wonderful accomplishment but not that common, so as a freshman and sophomore he played with his brother, who was a junior and senior. And then after that went on to the USHL and from there to the OHL.”

 

Seizing the moment in London

Alec joined a historic London Knights OHL program in 2017-18; at the draft, he talked about seizing opportunities while his team went through a transition period.

“I think in London I had a different progression than a lot of guys,” he said. “It was a different year for us, we traded a lot of our guys, and I think a lot of the younger guys had to take a step and that’s what we did. It helped a lot, and that’s how I think I was able to progress so well, get that confidence when the guys got traded and be reliable and stuff like that.”

Dad was impressed, too.

“Pretty remarkable really – you don’t really know that London is a hockey town when you’re just there for a limited amount of time,” Dr. Regula said. “When you go into the local pizza place, they know who the players are, so it’s a great storied franchise. I think it’s the most successful franchise in the OHL. And then you have someone like Dale Hunter coaching, who is the most successful coach in the history of the OHL. It really doesn’t get any better than that. It did really big things for him, and he’s moved up the depth chart and had a good pairing with Evan Bouchard and the two of them had a wonderful season.”

 

What the Wings are getting

Regula checks in at 6-foot-4 and 203 pounds, specs that should excite any Red Wings fan. He’s also one of those elusive right-handed defensemen teams are always looking for.

When asked who he would compare himself to, the West Bloomfield native pointed to one of the standouts with hockey’s newest franchise.

“I think that’s kind of a hard question for me because you like to think you’re your own player, but I like the way Colin Miller plays a lot,” Regula said. “I think I can play like him, big defenseman, right-handed shot, moves the puck well.”

He knows that despite being drafted, he still has plenty to work on both on and off the ice.

“For a big guy like me, you can always improve your foot work and your foot speed, stuff like that, that’s what I really want to work on, and in the end, you need to put on a lot of weight and strength to move on to the next level.”