CENTER TWP — The call came at midnight. Jake Hildebrand didn't care.

The 16-year-old Center Township resident and Cleveland Barons goaltender was on his way to Sioux City, Iowa, and the United States Hockey League.

The 14-team USHL is the only top-tier junior league in the country. Ninety-five percent of its players wind up in Division I college programs and 217 of its players have been drafted by NHL teams.

The league has teams in nine states, including the Youngstown Phantoms in Ohio.

Hildebrand wasn't going to miss this opportunity.

"The USHL does have a draft, but because I was grabbed by a team to fill a roster spot, I don't have to go through that next year," Hildebrand said. "I'm free to play for whatever team I want."

Hildebrand began playing hockey with the North Pittsburgh Wildcats at age 8. He spent two years there, then five seasons with the Pittsburgh Hornets amateur team.

Always a goalie, he began this season with the amateur Cleveland Barons — until the Sioux City Musketeers called him at midnight Feb. 5.

"We traded one of our goalies to another team and I knew of Jake through one of Shane Clifford's goaltender camps we both attended," said Musketeers assistant and goaltending coach Cam Ellsworth. "I had been following him and knew he was pretty good."

Sioux City's other goalie, Matt Skoff from Sto-Rox High School, also worked with Clifford and befriended Hildebrand during that time.

"I've worked with six goalies now in the U.S. league," Clifford said. "The familiarity with Sioux City was going to be good for Jake. It was a nice situation for him to walk into."

He flew into it, actually.

"After he got that phone call, Jake went to school Friday, then flew out of Cleveland to Milwaukee," said Russ Hildebrand, Jake's father. "From there, he flew to Omaha, where team officials picked him up and drove him two hours to Sioux City.

"He got in at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, got up and joined the team for the morning skate."

When Skoff struggled early in the Musketeers' game against Sioux Falls that night, Hildebrand went between the pipes and stopped 13 of 14 shots in a 5-1 loss.

"That was a pretty crazy time," Hildebrand admitted.

Skoff carries a 2.67 goals-against average in 31 games with Sioux City. Hildebrand isn't sure how many games he'll play down the stretch.

The 6-foot, 165-pound goalie is 16 and is playing in a league with players up to age 20.

"Jake is very young to be in a league of that caliber," Clifford said. "But that kid has what it takes. His fundamentals and skills, ability to move side to side, coupled with his work ethic — he's the total package."

Clifford was the Pittsburgh Penguins' goaltending coach when Ed Olczyk was head coach of the team.

"I liked those (Clifford) camps because they were big on lateral movement," Hildebrand said. "The game is getting so fast that you have to be quick to keep up.

"I'm strong in that area, but you can always improve in puck-handling skills, rebound control, things like that."

Ellsworth echoed Clifford's praise of Hildebrand's ability to stop the puck.

"If we didn't believe he could play at this level, we wouldn't have brought him here," Ellsworth said. "But he'll have to earn his playing time by showing what he can do in practice and in spot duty.

"Once you reach this level, that's the way it is."

Hildebrand said his ultimate goal is to play in the NHL. His immediate goal is to earn a college scholarship.

He enrolled at a high school in Sioux City last week.

"One step at a time," he said.