NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Owen MacNeil stretches ahead of their 4-2 loss to the Red Deer Rebels on Oct. 21 at Co-op Place.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
“The captain for the Medicine Hat Tigers for this year, and I know he will be one of the best that we have ever had here in the Western Hockey League, Owen MacNeil.”
Those are the words of legendary Tigers broadcaster Bob Ridley on Wednesday in a post-practice speech announcing the 19-year-old MacNeil as the 39th captain in franchise history.
MacNeil says he was honoured by the selection, is looking forward to the rest of the season as captain and was touched to receive the honour from Ridley.
“He’s the epitome of the Tigers organization, for him to to announce it like that, it meant a lot to myself,” MacNeil said. “It means a lot to the boys just having him around, he’s still such a presence in the community and throughout Medicine Hat.”
All of the Tigers voted on who they wanted as their leadership group, resulting in MacNeil as captain and the alternates being Rhett Parsons, Dru Krebs, Tyler MacKenzie and Dallon Melin.
Head coach Willie Desjardins says the most important thing he looks for in a captain is someone who competes on the ice and makes the team and those around them better. He says MacNeil is the guy who does a lot of what they want in a leader.
“He’s a guy that comes every day to work, he sets a great example and he cares about his teammates. He’s a guy that knows that if somebody is struggling, knows if somebody’s had a bad game,” Desjardins said. “He plays the game hard and he plays it the right way. He’s worked hard to get better, what he wants is to find ways to win.”
MacNeil was acquired by the Tigers in a trade with the Spokane Chiefs ahead of the 2021-22 season. He’s suited up in 74 games for the Tigers entering play Friday against the Saskatoon Blades, scoring 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points.
Desjardins says they always hope for good roles for players when acquiring them, but it’s not something they expect right away.
“When we brought him in we thought he was going to be a solid player, solid two-way player who’d be a guy that would provide a little grit and play hard and that’s what he’s done,” Desjardins said. “The things we didn’t know was how good he was going to be with his teammates and his off-ice work ethic. Both those things he’s done a really good job at.”
MacNeil says, with his dad at work, he called his mom to tell her the news with some excitement and tears coming from her side of the phone.
“It means a lot to her as well and so to be able to do that for them is obviously nice and I know they’re very happy for me,” MacNeil said.
It won’t be the first time MacNeil has donned the ‘C’ in his career, he was captain on his U15 Calgary Royals AAA team. It’s certainly different being a leader on a WHL team but MacNeil says he won’t be changing anything about how he acts around the rink or leads.
“Just stick to what I was doing before that, because that’s kind of what got me there,” MacNeil said. “It’s just developing the same habits and details, doing the same things day in and day out and being a strong leader for the group. We have a lot of guys that are unbelievable leaders. So if we’re having that positive energy around the rink and leading by example, then we’re doing our jobs by not changing too much.”
Desjardins says having multiple leaders allows them to distribute the load.
“Being a captain, it’s hard, you have to worry more about the team than yourself, you’re the guy that has to take care of any issues that come up,” Desjardins said. “I think it’s a big role and I think the more you can share it, probably the easier it is for them.”
When it comes to other leaders, MacNeil says he looks up to NHL’ers like Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog and Chicago Blackhawks captain Johnathon Toews.
“They lead by example, day-in and day-out, it’s not about talking about it, it’s about doing it,” MacNeil said. Those are two guys I’ve tried to pick things off from watching videos on them and hearing things about them.”
MacNeil says this year’s squad is a totally different team than last season’s 11-win lineup, and they’re building every day towards future success.
“We tried to stress rebuilding the culture and legacy within the team and I think we’ve done a great job so far this year, but the job’s not done,” MacNeil said.
“We have a great core leadership group and a lot of young talent. Everyone’s buying in and doing their job and we’re going to have a way better year than last year, and it’s already shown at the beginning of this year.”
