Dalton Kaake grew up playing youth hockey in Canada, moving around and playing for some of the best junior teams in Saskatchewan. It was easy to see he could go somewhere in the sport.

Although Kaake battles a stutter, that never stopped him from becoming what he is now: Cyclone Hockey’s leading scorer.

Kaake hails from Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, a town of 2,176, according to the 2011 census.

“You’re not expected to play hockey [as a kid growing up in Canada], but it is definitely implied,” Kaake said.

When Kaake was 3 years old, his parents got divorced. His father was a farmer and wasn’t into sports.

Not long after his stepdad came into the equation. He taught Kaake how to play hockey.

“He was the biggest influence on my life, both inside and outside of hockey,” Kaake said.

When Kaake was 5, he started to develop a stutter, one that he has worked through ever since.

“Every day it’s a challenge working through it,” Kaake said. “If someone talks to you, it’s always on your mind. You don’t want to stutter. In the end, it’s whatever, you just do it.”

But Kaake said the stutter has never made it hard to make friends or meet new teammates. When meeting new people, hockey was always a common interest.

“I never had any problems with it,” Kaake said.

Kaake knew he could really go somewhere with hockey when he was playing pee-wee (ages 11 to 12). In 20 games with his team, he said he scored 50 goals.

By the time he was old enough to play midget (ages 16 to 18), Kaake was able to land a spot with the Moose Jaw Generals of the Saskatchewan Midget Hockey League. 

“I loved every minute of my time in Moose Jaw,” Kaake said. “It was a huge step up in skill level to what I was playing the previous year. I had a lot of adjustments to make, but in the end, I left a better hockey player.”

After his time with the Generals, Kaake started playing in the Prairie Junior Hockey League, with his home Saskatchewan team, the Cypress Cyclones.

He netted 14 goals and 36 assists during his time there, good for 50 points.

“That is probably why individually I did so well there,” Kaake said. “I had so many opportunities to make the most of my skills.”

After that, he made his way to Waldorf University, an American Collegiate Hockey Association Division II school in Forest City, Iowa.

“I went there for hockey and they told me to try out for the baseball team as well,” Kaake said. “I actually made the baseball team.”

Kaake was a dual-sport athlete at Waldorf for a single season. But he made the most noise on the hockey team, earning 45 points over the year, which doubled up the next highest point-getter, who had 22 points.

After a year at Waldorf, Kaake decided to transfer to Iowa State.

“When he came in here last year, everything was new to him,” Cyclone Hockey head coach Jason Fairman said. “It took him a while to get up to that, but we never questioned his effort.”

Last year, in his first season with the Cyclones, Kaake had seven goals and six assists, good for 13 points. But Kaake is off to a fast start this season, remaining among the team leaders in goals. 

Fairman said Kaake has earned his spot on the team over the past season and a half.

“His goals have been hard-working, dirty goals,” Fairman said. “That’s how we play hockey.”

Kaake doesn’t care about being the leading scorer, though. He is more focused on Cyclone Hockey as a team.

“It’s nice to have the confidence [of being the leading scorer], but in the end, all that matters is if we win the game,” Kaake said. “That’s all I care about. No one cares about who’s leading goal scorer. As long as we’re doing well as a team, that’s all that matters.”