Lighting Goalie Brady Olejniczak Ready To ‘Have Fun’ In His Senior Season

By Ross Forman
Brady Olejniczak is ready for his fourth varsity season in goal this fall for the Lightning Hockey Club, a co-op of players from Lake Park, South Elgin, Bartlett and Dundee Crown High Schools.

The team is coming off a 2-21-1 season in the five-team IHSHL North-Central Varsity Silver League.

Olejniczak faced 682 shots in 21 league games, which was the second-most of all league goalies.

“We just need to work together better and learn how everyone plays,” said Olejniczak, 17, who lives in Roselle and attends Lake Park High School. “We lost a lot of seniors (after) the last two years. It is going to be a younger team (this upcoming season) and we will go through another rough season. Hopefully, we can get through it and try to put some people together who can help us win some games.

“Mid to late last season, we all came together and played very well against one of the top five ranked teams in our league and managed to win 5-3.”

The Lighting also in January silenced the Spartans, 2-0 – and Olejniczak faced 41 shots.

“My hockey motivation is the thought that, if I play better and keep practicing, I can have the chance to extend my career past high school and into college,” said Olejniczak, whose goal for the 2026-27 season is to stay healthy, get better and have fun in his senior season.

Olejniczak formerly played for the Bruins, Flames and Cyclones. He wears uniform No. 72 in tribute to Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky. Olejniczak has been named the team’s Ironman Award-winner and was the Rookie of the Year as a freshman.

Olejniczak is a butterfly goalie who has been hooked on hockey since attending his first Chicago Blackhawks game.

“Jack Hickey has been my goalie coach since I switched to being a goalie, and I still have lessons with him when I feel I need to work on things,” Olejniczak said. “I overcome setbacks by only focusing on the things I can change and ignoring the things I cannot.

“Being the only goalie on varsity this past season, I had to play through injuries, sickness and everything that came my way.”

Stopping Slapshots With … Lighting Goalie Brady Olejniczak

Memories: “In my last spring season before I switched to goalie, I scored back-to-back hat tricks in the first two games of the season.”
Off-Ice: “I started playing floorball with some of my friends for fun. I also bowl competitively for Lake Park.”
It Helps: “Riding bikes helps with my cardio and lower body strength, which is very important as a goalie.”
Superstitions on the Ice: “(When) the goalie has a shutout going or is just playing well, you should never say anything about it.”
Favorite NHL Team: Las Vegas Golden Knights
Favorite NHL Player: Patrick Kane
Favorite Sports-themed Movie: Miracle on Ice
Favorite Pre-game Meal: “I prefer not to eat before games.”
Favorite app: Instagram
Celebrity You’d Like To Meet: Marc-André Fleury
Favorite High School Uniform (other than Lightning): Warren Blue Devils (dark jerseys)