ELMHURST – As the owner of Brodies Auto Body in Glendale Heights, Mike Rohdenburg knows a little something about auto repair.
It was a skill that came in extremely handy when he started coaching youth hockey in Wilmette 25 years ago.
“I live in Elmhurst and I was coaching in Wilmette, so I think I put 160,000 miles on my car,” Rohdenburg said.
The long miles and late nights paid off, however. Rohdenburg will be inducted into the Illinois Hockey Hall of Fame on Jan. 29 in a ceremony at Belvedere Banquet Hall in Elk Grove Village.
Rohdenburg, who played for York and the Huskies Hockey Club before graduating from Immaculate Conception in 1980, coached for five years in Wilmette, spent seven years with the Huskies Hockey Club and then moved on to coach Hinsdale Central Hockey Club and the Chicago Bruins, where he is the current midget major team head coach.
His time as coach has included numerous state championships, including with Wilmette’s mite and squirt team and with the Flames Hockey Club as part of his 14-1 record in state championship games.
The 2013 Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois Coach of the Year has coached in more than 2,100 games during his career and has won more than 1,500 of those, but he is most proud of instilling confidence in the many players who have played for him.
“You’ve got to give them confidence,” Rohdenburg said. “I always play every kid. I always roll four lines, and not a lot of other guys always do that.”
Some weekdays, Rohdenburg is waking up at 5:40 a.m. and returning home at 11:30 p.m. while also coaching three or four or five games on the weekends. Yet the most difficult part of the job was writing a bio about his coaching career in advance of the Hall of Fame ceremony.
“I don’t like talking about myself,” he said. “I’m just proud of the kids. I obviously wouldn’t have done any of this without the kids.”
Rohdenburg said he planned to coach for “a few more years” before thinking about stepping away, but that might be easier said than done. Hockey has been a major part of his life, and the Hall of Fame honor is an example of that.
“It means a lot,” Rohdenburg said. “Hockey has been good to me and to give back has been wonderful.”