MacPhee looks to bring more than just toughness to Tigers
For Cam MacPhee, bloody knuckles are part of the brand — but the 18year-old Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman is out to prove there’s a lot more to his game.
MacPhee logged three fights and 24 penalty minutes in just 16 games stint with the team last year. Now with a few more open spots on the back end entering the regular season, MacPhee is hoping to make his assertive style of play a staple at the Canalta Centre.
“I hope to be pretty aggressive this year. I thickened up a little bit over the off-season,” said MacPhee, adding he hopes to use his size to aid Medicine Hat’s speed. “It's definitely important. With all our speed that's definitely a big part too. I'm just hoping I can make way for the other guys.”
The 6-foot, 192-pound blueliner registered his first-career point last December, an assist in a 5-3 win over the Red Deer Rebels, before parting ways with the team and assuming a defensive role with the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Grande Prairie Storm.
Tigers assistant coach Joe Frazer says the situation that sent MacPhee to Grande Prairie for development was a direct result of the highly talented roster Medicine Hat had last season.
“It was one of things where just with the numbers — you've got to play games and you've got to get some playing time — he wasn't able to get as much playing time as we thought he needed to develop so he went up to Grande Prairie and did a great job,” said Frazer, adding MacPhee has truly upped his performance since his last game with the Tigers in February. “It's been great to see the steps he's taking.”
While a full-time place on the Tigers’ roster could result in MacPhee sharing in the team’s enforcement duties with overage forward Zach Fischer — who logged a staggering 145 penalty minutes on Medicine Hat’s top line last year — MacPhee will surely be on the hunt for his first WHL goal as well.
The Edmonton product added he has been working a lot on his footwork and puck handling through the summer months, and with any luck he’ll be able to send one into the back of the net sooner than later.
“I've worked on my edges a lot and moving my feet when I get the puck,” he said. “I'm hoping I can get a couple shots off and move the puck a little more.”