THE MMJHL ’ S 2016-17 TROPHY WINNERS
Jack McKenzie Trophy Playoff Champions The Raiders Jr . Hockey Club
The Art Moug Trophy Regular Season Champions The Charleswood Hawks
The Chris Flintoff Memorial Playoff MVP Ryan Brown , Raiders Jr . Hockey Club
The Dave Anderson Memorial Rookie of the Year – David MacDonald , Fort Garry / Fort Rouge Twins
The Kip Kelly Memorial Hardest Working Player Kyle Jur , Raiders Jr . Hockey Club
The George Cadzow Outstanding Defenseman Nicolas Gravel , Transcona Railer Express
The Steve Claus Memorial Regular Season Scoring Champion Riley Beauchemin , St . Vital Victorias
The Ken Prodonick Memorial Ability and Sportsmanship Jens Giesbrecht , St . Boniface Riels
The Ron Smith Memorial Outstanding Goaltender Hunter Ploszay , Stonewall Jets
The Myron Prymak Memorial League MVP Riley Beauchemin , St . Vital Victorias
The Nick Hill Memorial Coach of the Year Carson Shields , Fort Garry / Fort Rouge Twins
Raiders goalie Ryan Brown , Playoff MVP talent in this league . There are some guys in this league who can really play . And for me , it was tough to get going because I had just turned 19 and there are 20 and 21-year-old guys in this league . The first thing I realized is that this is an adult hockey league .
“ To this day , I ’ m happy the Twins gave me the opportunity to play .”
It should be remembered that when David MacDonald played his first game with the Twins , he was still a baseball player . At least , in his head , he was still a baseball player .
MacDonald started playing hockey at Westdale Community Centre when he was six or seven and then his family moved and he grew up as a Ranger and Monarch . At 14 , he decided to play junior varsity hockey at St . Paul ’ s High School and after a year in JV , he made the Varsity team in Grade 11 . He played two seasons – very successful seasons – with the Crusaders , but at his core , he was a baseball player . At 18 , he decided to give up hockey and pursue baseball when he was offered a scholarship to play at the University of Winnipeg .
But then he got hurt . Late in the summer of 2015 , he blew out his shoulder . He needed surgery and a long period of rehab . He was thrilled to go back and play the spring season at the U of W , but in September of 2016 , he blew out his shoulder again .
“ The day I tore my shoulder muscles again , in September of 2016 , the doctors almost instantly ruled out baseball ,” he said . “ They said , however , that it didn ’ t require another operation and that it would eventually heal itself . So I asked , ‘ I can ’ t play baseball , but could I play hockey ?’ and they didn ’ t say no .”
Fortunately , if he really wanted to play hockey , he had a place to play .
“ My assistant coach , Cam Craig , had been the coach at Vincent Massey and he remembered David ,” said Carson Shields , the Twins head coach and this year ’ s MMJHL Coach of the Year . “ My nephew was a player who had played at St . Paul ’ s , a real good player named Kayden Jarvis ( now with the MJHL ’ s Winkler Flyers ), and he recommended David to me . So we ’ d talked to David in the spring and at that time , he said he wasn ’ t interested in playing hockey and was going to pursue baseball , but then we heard he ’ d been injured again , so we contacted him .”
MacDonald wasn ’ t really in shape to play high-level junior hockey , but he ’ d always loved the game and now that baseball was out of the question , the second-year business student at the University of Winnipeg decided to give it a shot . Things could not have worked out better .
“ I say enough about him ,” said Shields . “ He ’ s calm , collected and worldly . It ’ s hard to believe he ’ s 19-years-old . He has an old soul . His hockey IQ is so high , he ’ s a natural born leader . He ’ s the type of guy , when you coach him , you have to be accountable to him .
“ But sure , he was a longshot in the beginning , but in the end , he made our year . Don ’ t forget , he scored on his first shot in the MMJHL in the season and in the third game , he had a four-point night and propelled this team back to respectability . With David around for two more years and with some of the other young players on this team , there is a very bright future .”
MacDonald had to wear a shoulder brace that attached under his jersey and ran all the way around the upper half of his torso . He also admitted that the third period of his first few games was a grind . But once he got going , he was the best player on a very good team .
“ We only lose three 21-year-olds from this year ’ s roster so there is a lot of enthusiasm and hunger for success within this group ,” he said . “ We lost some big leaders , but we have the guys who can fill those holes .”
In the span of 13 months , MacDonald went from college baseball to an injury , to an operation , to rehab , to more college baseball , to another injury and now hockey again . However , that hockey experience led to MacDonald becoming his team ’ s top scorer and the Rookie of the Year in the MMJHL .
“ I couldn ’ t be happier with my situation ,” he said . “ It ’ s been a ton of fun . That ’ s the best way to put it : It ’ s just been a ton of fun .” ❍
36 | GAME ON | SEPTEMBER 2017