Getting to Know: Jake Raleigh
April 9, 2025 - SPHL (SPHL)
Macon Mayhem News Release
(MACON, Ga.) - Jake Raleigh has been surrounded by hockey almost his entire life. A year after he was born, the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes took root in his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina. His parents put him in skates and on the ice at age three and when he turned five, his father, a Vermont native and former player, got him into the game.
"With the Hurricanes just growing a lot in North Carolina so starting to play at the same time they were getting down there was cool to see Raleigh grow as a Hockey community."
Raleigh found his footing as a forward from the beginning.
"Just having the chance of scoring goals is a lot of fun and being on the attack and kind of you know for checking and getting in there and making plays, I love being able to do that."
Over the next 20 years, Raleigh would go on to play for the Carolina Eagles (now the Junior Canes), being named Captain in his final year before heading to Post University.
"I wanted to go somewhere that I was wanted, and I knew I would have the chance to develop, and they were a newer program and my coach said that I would be a part of helping build that."
It was one of his teammates from Post that introduced him to the FPHL, where Raleigh played four games with the Delaware Thunder. The next season his agent put him in contact with the Mississippi Sea Wolves where he played the entire 2022-2023 season.
The following season, in 2023 Raleigh played four games with the Sea Wolves before making the decision that it was time to retire.
"I was going to try to see what it was like working and a more 'normal job' and see what it was like," said Jake Raleigh.
It took Raleigh six months of retirement to realize he wanted to come back.
"I went back home for the rest of the year," said Raleigh. "I had a coach that who was in the area who coached my brother's team and he got me in contact with Columbus [The FPHL's River Dragons] and I signed with them that summer."
Raleigh spent one game with the River Dragons before being loaned to Macon for a game. From there he was traded to the FPHL's Motor City Rockers and spent 3 weeks there before signing with Macon once again.
"I met up with the team on the road, stopped in Roanoke to meet them there and then back to Macon," said Raleigh.
This move up also just so happened to land on Raleigh's 28th birthday, one that he says was a pretty good present.
Raleigh's season has been one to note, including completing a hat trick in the 4-1 win over Roanoke on February 2.
"This is something that you know, it's a lot of fun and it's truly what I love doing most. Nothing like it and no comparison for it," he said.
For Raleigh, it's also been about getting to interact with the fans.
"We did an event with fans that was trivia and I thought that was a lot of fun," Raleigh said. "That was one of my favorites. Just getting to talk to people in smaller groups, you really got to talk with people while answering the questions. I thought that was a really cool event. I've never done anything like that on another team."
At the end of the day, Raleigh couldn't have done all of this without the support of his family.
"Being close with my family and being able to go back home and see everyone and ever. It's really cool to have a good support system like that."
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