Sunday, April 13, 2014
Ending the 2013-2014
Regular Season
Drew MacIntyre-Leafs
Last Thursday night,
Leafs Coach Randy Carlyle decided to start Drew MacIntyre in goal. Without a
great deal of fanfare, it was an important evening for the Leafs goalie.
MacIntyre was drafted by the Red Wings in 2001. Since that time, he has logged
an awful lot of ice time in many hockey leagues. As it turned out, he had to
wait until he was thirty years old to get his first start in the NHL.
After the game he
chatted with the media. “It’s been a long time, but it was awesome playing my
first game. I was hoping it would be a win. That’s how I had envisioned it. I
looked up at the end of the anthem and saw the Draft 2001 flag. I smiled at
myself and said, ‘It’s been a fun ride.’ I found it so funny that I was playing
my first game in this rink.”
I asked him for a
quick photo as he returned to the dressing room. I mentioned that I came from
Wellington. “I don’t know if you remember, but I played for the Trenton Sting
when I was fifteen,” he told me with a slight smile. Sure enough, the NHL
Official Guide confirmed this. My other main source of players and teams did
not have the same information. In fact, hockeydb.com had no record of
MacIntyre’s original foray into the hockey world. The entire year of 1998-1999
is missing from their archives.
MacIntyre skated
briefly at the Dukes camp that season, and was a guest of Coach Marty Abrams.
Marty had already signed Rob Gherson for the season, and released MacIntyre to
the Sting. Gherson informed me that he and MacIntyre faced each other several
times in the hockey wars, particularly in the American League.
MacIntyre, a native
of Charlottetown, PEI, played his major junior hockey in the Quebec League with
Sherbrooke. Most of his professional
career has been in the American League, with four relief appearances in the
NHL. He played 56 games in the ECHL, including 10 last year in Reading. He has
played 46 games this year for the Marlies, with a sparkling
goals-against-average of 2.49. With Bernier injured, he was called up to the
Leafs for Thursday’s game.
Carlyle was politely
infuriated with his team’s effort in the game, following a 4-2 loss to the
Panthers. “I thought we would have a little bit more compassion for the
goaltender that was going in the net for his first NHL start. We gave up eight
quality scoring chances in the first period.” It has been a rocky road for the
Leafs this year.
Playoffs begin Wednesday!
April 13, 2014.
# posted by James Hurst @ 8:29 PM 
