Powassan Voodoos rookie goalie Nate McDonald got to live a dream recently, and came away better equipped to handle the sometimes harsh realities of junior hockey.
Last month, the 16-year-old North Bay native was a late fill-in at the inaugural #gcamp run by Gatorade. For five days, McDonald was among the 40 young hockey players from across Canada who were on the ice – and taking in life lessons – from NHL stars such as Sidney Crosby, P.K. Subban and John Tavares and Olympic heroes such as Marie-Philip Poulin and Hayley Wickenheiser.
“It was pretty surreal to take it all in, and still focus on what you were trying to do on the ice,” said McDonald, who signed with the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League's Voodoos last month. “I had all of them shooting on me – Johnny Gaudreau, Brent Burns, John Tavares, Crosby, Subban, Hayley Wickenheiser, Marie-Philip Poulin, Dominic Moore.
“They talked a lot to us off the ice about what they had to overcome to get to where they are today.” McDonald added. “It was great just seeing what it takes to play at the next level – seeing firsthand the effort those guys have put in.”
Invitations were extended to players whose names had been entered into a contest where the criteria involved having a story of perseverance or overcoming loss.
When another goalie had to drop out, Peterborough Petes GM Mike Oke reached out to McDonald.
“It was pretty much just a last-minute thing,” said McDonald, whom the Petes chose in the 13th round of the 2015 OHL priority selection. “I hopped on it right away. Obviously an opportunity like this doesn't come along very often.”
On July 22, the final day of the camp, players ended up scrimmaging with NHL stars.
“They kept making it like a surprise for us, so we didn't know which NHL players were going to show up, The NHL guys sort of popped out from the cracks in the walls. Johnny Gaudreau came up behind us at one point. Brent Burns showed up in a sort of scientist outfit like he was going to be conducting testing – no one really feel for it because of the huge beard he has.”
It wasn't just the big-name NHLers and women's national team stars that left an impression on McDonald, who played minor hockey in the Trappers organization before moving south to play in the Greater Toronto Hockey League. His roommate for the week was recent OHL Humanitarian of the Year honouree Will Petschenig (who was a teammate of another North Bay netminder, Ken Appleby, on the 2015 Memorial Cup-winning Oshawa Generals).
“He told us about how he had lost his father [Dan Petschenig, a former CFL offensive lineman] two years ago and how he's kept going,” McDonald said. “He's signed now to play in Switzerland.”
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound McDonald will be playing close to home for the first time since 2013-14, when he played for the bantam AAA Trappers. In the long run, he believes spending an extra season in midget will translate into being a relatively detail-oriented rookie ease the transition to Junior A.
“I'm ecstatic, being able to come back and play in front of my friends,” McDonald said. “I know that they run a really good program there and run their program first-class.
“I used to work with [well-known professional goalie consultant] Tom Hedican before I moved away, from North Bay,” McDonald added. “He's done a lot for me on and off the ice and hope to work with him again.”
The motto of the #gcamp was 'win from within.' McDonald learned that very early in his hockey life. As a relative latecomer who started playing at age eight when parents Laura and Lorne were living in Eganville, he eagerly volunteered to go in goal.
“Our coach just sort of rotated us through,” McDonald said. “My first game as a goalie we ended up losing 19-0. But I loved it and wanted to keep playing. Our team kept getting tossed around, but I never wanted to come out of the net even though I came off crying a couple of times.”
Little did he know how sticking with one of the toughest positions in all of team sports would lead to a thrill of a lifetime a decade later.
“I guess it was good I stayed in the net,” McDonald said.
