Cade Child is a professional hockey player who has played for the St. Louis Blues and now makes his living playing hockey in Sweden. He is the son of Christine (Larsen) and Pat Fairchild of Duluth. Christine grew up in Grand Marais and graduated from Cook County High School and gets back home often to visit her sisters, friends, and once in awhile her first cousins.
Cade Fairchild lives in Angelholm, Sweden, an easy commute to Copenhagen, Denmark. But Cade isn’t in Sweden to vacation. His job there is to play professional hockey for Team Rogle BK.
Cade is the son of Cook County High School graduate Christine (Larsen) Fairchild and Pat Fairchild of Duluth. Pat jut returned from a weeklong stay with Cade, taking in three games and seeing a bit of the country.
“Cade is playing in the first year of a two-year contract,” said Pat. “He has a beautiful fully furnished two-bedroom apartment with a big screen TV and a new car to drive, which are free. He could eat for free if he wanted to. There is a restaurant at the rink that will cook meals for the players. Cade likes to cook, so I don’t know if he eats at the club or not.”
Team Rogle is made up of players from Canada (2), Denmark (2), Germany (1), Norway (1), Slovakia (1), Sweden (23) and the USA (4).
Cade plays defense for Rogle. At 5-10 and 170 pounds, Cade is an active player, fast on his skates, with a good left-handed shot and is a deft passer with the puck.
Cade Fairchild
“Cade has always been a pass first, shoot second player,” Pat said. “He enjoys setting up teammates, making a great play. Cade has great rink vision. He sees plays unfold before they happen. Not everyone has that ability.”
But it wasn’t always that way. When Cade began playing hockey he was 6 years old, “and he didn’t like it much,” Pat said. “He skipped practice a lot. It wasn’t something he was excited about, at least that first year.”
In 2007 the St. Louis Blues selected Cade in the fourth round.
Cade played for U-19 Team USA (2007-2009) his last two years of high school, then accepted a four-year scholarship to play hockey for the University of Minnesota. Following graduation from the U of M Cade played one year for the Peoria Rivermen, a farm team for the St. Louis Blues, then was called up in 2011-2012 to play for the big club. He was flown from Peoria by private jet to Washington, D.C. to make his first appearance in an NHL game. When he arrived at the rink his new teammates were dressed and ready. He had to hurry to get into uniform, but he made it onto the ice, a dream come true.
Cade saw some time on the ice that season, but the Blues were stacked with talented defensemen. To get more playing time he was sent back to the Peoria Rivermen for the 2012-2013 year where he scored eight goals and had 26 assists.
During the 2013-2014 year, Cade played for the Chicago Wolves, the Kalamazoo Wings, and the Portland Pirates.
In 2014 Fairchild signed a two-year contract with Metallurg Novokuznetsk, a professional hockey team in Russia. Despite being injured for part of the season, Cade had four goals and 17 assists in his last year with the Russian club.
“I was proud of Cade when he played in the Russian league,” said his father. “His team was only allowed to sign three foreign players and both years the players from the other countries left before the season was over. Cade is the only one who stuck it out. His club was located near Siberia, so the weather was rough. He was also injured, but he hung in there and fulfilled his contract.”
Professional hockey in Sweden is played on Olympic sized rinks. “It’s the fastest hockey I have ever seen,” said Pat, who played hockey at West Point and for a while at UMD. “It’s quicker than the NHL. The players are smaller, mostly, and quicker. The rinks are bigger. There isn’t as much hitting as in the NHL. And there aren’t as many games. It’s a speed league. The hockey is a lot of fun to watch.”
So far this season Cade has three goals and 16 assists for Rogle BK.
“Cade loves playing hockey in Sweden,” said Christine.
Pat, Chris, and Cade have bought a house in Florida. It’s on a golf course. During the offseason, Cade will live there and in the Twin Cities.
Pat, who is also a champion golfer, said Cade loves to golf. “I don’t think Cade will ever live in Duluth again. He’s pretty happy now. I can see him having a long career in hockey. He’s in tremendous shape. It always makes a parent feel good when they see that their child is successful and happy. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m proud of Cade. His hard work has paid off.”
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