Goal remains the same
P.E.I.'S Gardiner Macdougall talks about opportunity to coach Canadian U18 team at worlds
The players may be of a different age, but the goal of building a winning team remains unchanged for Gardiner Macdougall.
The head coach of the UNB Reds, the winningest coach in Canadian university men’s hockey history, has been named head coach of Team Canada for the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) world under-18 championship in Finland from April 25 to May 5.
“This group will be younger than the group I work with at UNB,” said Macdougall, who grew up in Bedeque, P.E.I. “I have a lot of good players (at UNB) but not many NHL first-rounders and there will be a number of these (under18) players be first- and second-round draft picks come June.
“It will be neat to, first of all, connect and help grow this group so they can be the best possible (team) over in Finland.”
Macdougall’s resumé speaks for itself. This season, he guided the Reds, comprised of young men mostly in their early 20s, to an undefeated season of 43-0 – exhibition, regular season, playoffs and U Sports national championship tournament – and was named U Sports men’s hockey coach of the year for the third time.
In 24 seasons at UNB, Macdougall has coached the Reds to nine national championships, 11 Atlantic University Sport titles and made 16 appearances at the nationals.
Macdougall also took over the Saint John Sea Dogs on an interim basis following a first-round playoff loss in 2022 and led the host team to the Memorial Cup that spring.
Macdougall also served as head coach of Team Canada’s gold-medal-winning men’s hockey team at the 2023 FISU University Games.
“Gardiner has not only solidified himself as one of the greatest coaches in university hockey history, his record and reputation speaks for itself,” said Scott Salmond, Hockey Canada senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations, in a media release. “His nine U Sports championships and 2022 Memorial Cup win with Saint John are proof of his ability to win in short-term competition, which will serve us well at the world championship.”
WELCOME PHONE CALL
Macdougall, who is also busy with the recruitment process for UNB, said it is always special to receive a call from Hockey Canada.
“It’s a great honour and a great privilege to take some of the top under-18 players in the country over to the world championships and represent your country,” the son of Evelyn and the late Charlie Macdougall told Saltwire in a phone interview.
A priority for Macdougall is for the staff to get to know each other. Saint John head coach Travis Crickard, who served as an assistant coach during the Memorial Cup, is the only staff member with previous experience working with Macdougall.
“He’s the only person on staff that I know,” said Macdougall. “We will have some meetings in Toronto, get to know one another and put a plan forth for the on-ice version of our players. We will get a chance to meet them for the first time on (April 15).”
PREPARATION
Macdougall is no stranger to pulling teams together in a short period of time. The World University Games’ team featured players from across Canada with a short window for preparation, and Macdougall coached a team of AUS all-stars against Team Canada as part of its training camp for the world junior hockey championship two years ago.
“The biggest thing is the connection with the players right away and getting to know them, on and off the ice, and building your team together,” said Macdougall. “These are players who come from different teams across Canada.
“Some of them would have played against one another in leagues; some of them in the under-17 program would have played with or against one another. Now is the chance to build that teamwork in a short time span.”