CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Leaving home at age 16?

“Smartest decision I ever made,” Butler native Jake Hildebrand said.

Who can argue?

Now 18, Hildebrand is the starting goaltender for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League. He is headed to Michigan State University on a hockey scholarship this fall.

“It was tough moving 16 hours away from my family,” Hildebrand said of his decision to join the USHL three years ago. “But an opportunity opened up and I felt I couldn’t pass it by.

“The move helped me grow up a lot.”

It didn’t hurt his hockey career, either.

The 16-team USHL has 165 alumni playing in the National Hockey League, along with 256 college commitments among its current players.

Hildebrand spent the final half of the 2009-10 hockey season as a backup netminder for the Sioux City Musketeers, taking advantage of an open roster spot and subsequent invite. He had been playing junior hockey for the Cleveland Barons.

The 6-foot-0, 175-pound Hildebrand returned to the Musketeers last year — then requested a trade prior to this season.

“Their regular goalie, Matt Skoff (from McKees Rocks) decided to return to the team, which meant I wasn’t gonna get as much playing time as I wanted,” Hildebrand said.

So Hildebrand wound up with the Cedar Rapids team — another move that worked out well.

He recently shared honors as USHL goaltender of the week, posting a 1.50 goals-against average and .962 save percentage while in net for two road victories.

Hildebrand stopped 37 shots in a 5-2 victory at Lincoln, then made 39 saves — 18 in the third period — of a 4-1 triumph over Tri-City. He has 24 wins over three USHL seasons, including a 15-12 record with one shutout, a 3.04 goals-against average and .907 save percentage this year.

Former Pittsburgh Penguins goaltending coach Shane Clifford has worked with goalies in the USHL and NAHL, along with minor league netminders in the American Hockey League and East Coast league. He has worked with Hildebrand since the latter was eight years old.

“When he was 9, I told his parents they wouldn’t be paying for him to go to college,” Clifford said. “The kid was that good, that fast.

“I could show him technical moves at that time that 13-year-old goalies couldn’t do. Jake had no problem doing it.”

Hildebrand will be joining a Michigan State program that is 19-13-4 so far this season and won the NCAA championship in 2007. The Spartans’ starting goalie is sophomore Will Yanakeff, who has 13 wins and a 2.32 GAA. The team also has a senior and freshman goalie on the roster.

“I’m going to have to go in and battle for playing time,” Hildebrand said. “But that’s how it is at that level. I continue to work on my game every day.

“My strength is my movement. The game happens so fast, but I’m quick from post to post. I’m not giving up as many rebounds as I once did, either.”

During the offseason, Clifford said Hildebrand is in the gym six days a week, two and a half hours at a time, working out in Robinson Township.

“His dedication and discipline are impressive,” Clifford said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt Jake will wind up in pro hockey.

“Rob Madore is a Pittsburgh-area goalie playing at the University of Vermont. He’s getting ready to turn pro and he’ll tell you Jake is better than he is.”

There are 20 goalies from the Pittsburgh area playing either Division I college or high-level junior hockey right now. Ken Ryder, who was netminder for NCAA champion Minnesota Duluth last year, is from Pittsburgh.

“Jake’s skills match up well with any of them,” Clifford said.

Hildebrand doesn’t deny his goal for down the road.

“Every player in the USHL wants to wind up in the NHL,” he said. “I’m no exception.”