The long grind<\/p>\n
Before becoming a regular presence in the NHL, Raddysh spent six seasons grinding in the American Hockey League, chasing a dream that often felt just out of reach.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of times you thought maybe you would never make it, or you never would play in the NHL,\u201d Raddysh said.<\/p>\n
What kept him believing, however, was family \u2014 particularly his younger brother, Taylor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe ended up making Tampa, and being the older brother, it made me always believe that if he can do it, I can do it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
A brotherly bond<\/p>\n
The Raddysh brothers have been nearly inseparable since Taylor was born in 1998. From toddlers playing in the house, to sharing the ice for three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, their hockey journeys have remained intertwined.<\/p>\n
Eventually, they reached the NHL \u2014 even playing together in a Lightning uniform.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet alone having one kid play in the NHL, but having your brother there as well,\u201d Raddysh said. \u201cIt\u2019s a special moment for my family, and we cherish it a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taylor Raddysh now plays for the New York Rangers, but the bond between the two remains central to Darren\u2019s story.<\/p>\n
Playing for more than the game<\/p>\n
Family continues to be the foundation of Raddysh\u2019s success, particularly his parents. This season holds deeper meaning after the passing of his father, Dwayne Raddysh, who lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in March.<\/p>\n
Raddysh credits his father as a constant source of belief \u2014 someone who believed long before anyone else that both of his sons could one day reach the NHL.<\/p>\n
This season, and every season that follows, will be played in honor of his dad and the legacy he left behind \u2014 from support in the stands to the power behind a shot that once reached 102 miles per hour.<\/p>\n
Still writing the story<\/p>\n
As Darren Raddysh continues to add to his record-setting season, the milestone serves as both a celebration and a reminder of perseverance, family, and the time it takes to truly arrive. That perseverance and dedication to the game is exactly what recently earned him the Lightning’s nomination for the Masterton Trophy.<\/p>\n
In the days since his 21st goal, Raddysh has tallied additional points, and he joins Hedman as the second defenseman in franchise history with 70+ points in a single season.<\/p>\n
With the playoffs ahead, the story isn\u2019t finished yet. For Raddysh, history has already been made \u2014 and there may still be more to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The long grind Before becoming a regular presence in the NHL, Raddysh spent six seasons grinding in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-234591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}