Chad Rau

Chad Anthony Jerome Rau (born January 18, 1987) is an American professional ice hockey forward who last played for Glasgow Clan in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League. Rau previously played for HC Slovan Bratislava of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and Minnesota Wild. He was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 7th round (228th overall) of the 2005 NHL entry draft.

Playing career He spent a single season in the USHL with the Des Moines Buccaneers in 2004–05, tallying 31 goals and 40 assists in 57 games, while receiving USHL Rookie of the Year honors. In 2014, he was inducted into the Buccaneers' Hall of Fame.

Rau attended Colorado College from 2005 to 2009, receiving All-America Second Team honors in 2008 and 2009.

On May 17, 2010, Rau was signed as a free agent by the Minnesota Wild to a two-year contract. He was assigned to play for the Houston Aeros at the start of the 2010–11 season.

During the 2011–12 season, he made his NHL debut with the Wild and scored his first NHL goal, the eventual game-winning goal, in a 5–2 victory against Kari Lehtonen of the Dallas Stars on January 21, 2012. On February 19, 2012, he scored his second NHL goal in his fifth NHL game.

On February 5, 2014, the Minnesota Wild traded Rau to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Curt Gogol. He was immediately assigned to AHL affiliate, the Worcester Sharks.

After spending the first five seasons of his professional career primarily in the AHL, Rau opted to sign abroad on a one-year contract in the Austrian Hockey League with EHC Black Wings Linz on July 22, 2014. He played 24 games with the Black Wings, collecting three goals and four assists. He transferred to SaiPa of the Finnish Elite League (Liiga) on December 31, 2014. In his second year with SaiPa (2015–16), Rau amassed 30 goals and 19 assists in 66 Liiga contests and won the Aarne Honkavaara Trophy as the league's leading goalscorer as well as the Liiga Gentleman of the Year award.

After concluding his successful tenure in Finland, Rau opted to leave as a free agent and signed a one-year contract with new KHL entrant, HC Kunlun Red Star of China on July 22, 2016.

Following a single season with Kunlun, Rau left as a free agent to continue in the KHL by signing a one-year agreement with HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk on May 10, 2017. After splitting the 2017–18 season, between Nizhnekamsk and Avangard Omsk, Rau continued in the KHL signing as a free agent on a one-year contract with Slovak-based, HC Slovan Bratislava, on August 3, 2018.

On 25 July 2019, Rau agreed a move to UK EIHL side Glasgow Clan.

Personal Chad's younger brother Kyle played NCAA hockey with the University of Minnesota and currently plays within the Minnesota Wild organization in the National Hockey League.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2003–04 Eden Prairie High School HS-MN 23 34 24 58 — — — — — 2004–05 Des Moines Buccaneers USHL 57 31 40 71 32 — — — — — 2004–05 U.S. NTDP U18 USDP 11 2 0 2 2 — — — — — 2005–06 Colorado College WCHA 42 13 17 30 8 — — — — — 2006–07 Colorado College WCHA 39 14 17 31 4 — — — — — 2007–08 Colorado College WCHA 40 28 14 42 8 — — — — — 2008–09 Colorado College WCHA 38 18 19 37 6 — — — — — 2009–10 Houston Aeros AHL 79 19 19 38 7 — — — — — 2010–11 Houston Aeros AHL 60 13 27 40 12 24 6 3 9 2 2011–12 Houston Aeros AHL 67 14 21 35 2 4 0 0 0 2 2011–12 Minnesota Wild NHL 9 2 0 2 0 — — — — — 2012–13 Houston Aeros AHL 60 16 11 27 6 5 1 2 3 0 2013–14 Iowa Wild AHL 33 1 6 7 0 — — — — — 2013–14 Worcester Sharks AHL 28 2 4 6 6 — — — — — 2014–15 EHC Black Wings Linz EBEL 24 3 4 7 2 — — — — — 2014–15 SaiPa Liiga 26 9 5 14 0 7 4 2 6 2 2015–16 SaiPa Liiga 60 28 18 46 0 6 2 1 3 4 2016–17 Kunlun Red Star KHL 60 20 20 40 6 5 1 1 2 0 2017–18 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk KHL 30 10 3 13 4 — — — — — 2017–18 Avangard Omsk KHL 14 2 1 3 0 5 0 0 0 2 2018–19 HC Slovan Bratislava KHL 55 7 10 17 4 — — — — — 2019–20 Glasgow Clan EIHL 43 12 24 36 10 — — — — — AHL totals 327 65 88 153 33 33 7 5 12 4 NHL totals 9 2 0 2 0 — — — — — KHL totals 159 39 34 73 14 10 1 1 2 2

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2005 United States WJC18 6 1 0 1 0 Junior totals 6 1 0 1 0

Awards and honors Award Year USHL All-Rookie Team 2005 Rookie of the Year 2005 First All-Star Team 2005 College WCHA First All-Star Team 2008, 2009 AHCA West Second-Team All-American 2008, 2009 LiigaAarne Honkavaara Trophy 2016 Raimo Kilpiö trophy2016