MacDonald catches on with the Tigers
Yarmouth minor hockey graduate adapts to trade from his hometown Mariners
Nolan MacDonald carried “mixed emotions” in his hockey bag when he was traded from his hometown Yarmouth Mariners in November.
While he understood the rationale behind the Maritime Hockey League deal and appreciated a new opportunity with the Campbellton Tigers, it tugged at his heartstrings just the same.
“At the time, it was like a really tough pill to swallow,” said MacDonald, a 19-yearold forward from Kemptville, Yarmouth County. “Growing up, I was a huge Mariners fan. Me and my dad and my grandfather, on his side, we had season tickets and we’d go to every game together. So, as a kid, I was always dreaming of playing for them and my goal was to someday crack their lineup. Eventually, I did.”
Even as a junior A player, he remained connected with Yarmouth minor hockey teams as a mentor.
“I had a lot going on with them,” he said. “I really enjoyed doing camps and hanging out with the kids.
“When I learned that I was being traded, it just felt like everything I dreamed about and worked for was coming to an end, which was kind of sucky.
“But at the same time, I was really excited that there was another team in the league that seemed very interested in having me. The coach here in Campbellton said they were going to give me a bigger role and a great opportunity to play.”
The Mariners received future considerations in exchange for MacDonald, who respected Yarmouth’s decision to make way for forwards with major junior experience.
“Sometimes, fresh starts are good,” he said. “Maybe getting away from Yarmouth would also be a good thing, even though it was tough news at the time. But it worked out well. I couldn’t be happier now.”
MacDonald likes the look of his new team not only because the Tigers’ black-and-gold colours match those of his favourite NHL team, the Boston Bruins.
Campbellton also brought in experienced players before the January trade deadline and began the pandemic-delayed second half of the season Feb. 6 with a 4-1 victory over the league-leading Summerside Western Capitals.
MacDonald, five-foot-eight and 185 pounds, recorded his first MHL regular-season fight during that game, scrapping with former Valley Wildcats forward Aaron Brown. The buddies had texted each other before the game, but they tangled in the first minute of the second period after Brown reacted to Tigers defenceman Zac Arsenault’s hit on Capitals sniper Thomas Lacombe.
MacDonald intervened as he dropped his gloves, grabbed Brown and started swinging, but other players and the linesmen quickly crowded the scene, so the main event lost its steam.
“We didn’t really get our money’s worth,” said MacDonald, whose only other MHL fight was in a pre-season bout last year.
His recent clash with his friend Brown was the latest taste of irony for MacDonald, whose newest teammates in Campbellton include two of his former adversaries in Arsenault and Jeremie Hebert. Arsenault came from the Grand Falls Rapids and Hebert from the Miramichi Timberwolves.
“It’s cool, though, how it comes full circle,” MacDonald said. “Some of the times, the guys you have feuds with (on the ice), they’re really good guys and you become buddies.”
MacDonald had a goal and three points in 14 games with Yarmouth this season. He was pointless after nine games with Campbellton, while still contributing with feisty and dogged play.
“It’s kind of what they brought me in for,” he said. “I’m really good on the forecheck. I might not be the flashiest guy, but for us to have success and for me to find success here, I just have to be that guy that’s always hard to play against and to use my speed and to finish hits.
“They’ve got me in a big role on the penalty kill. They expect me to take one for the team and mix it up if I have to. Someone they can rely on in tough situations that’s just going to make the right play. So far, I think I’ve been doing a good job of that.”
Just as the MHL resumed play this month after a prolonged mid-season shutdown, COVID-19 caught up with the Tigers one day after they defeated Summerside. Multiple cases forced Campbellton to postpone another string of games.
MacDonald said he was among about a dozen players who tested positive for COVID, so he was forced to quarantine at a hotel for more than a week.
“Besides the fact that you can’t play and you can’t go anywhere, it’s honestly not a bad setup at all,” he said with a laugh.
“They treat us really well. They’ve brought us whatever we needed. Food wasn’t an issue. It was good.”
Other than achiness in the early stages, MacDonald wasn’t overwhelmed with COVID symptoms, so he spent most of his hotel days connecting with friends online, playing video games or strumming his guitar.
He’s a big fan of country music and is trying to perfect some of the tunes that his maternal grandfather, the late Edward Crowell, performed in a band with his siblings back in the day.
“I’ve always liked singing, so I thought it would be fun to learn guitar,” said MacDonald, who has dabbled with selections from musical artists like Keith Whitley, George Strait, Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs.
“I’m kind of all over the place. Old country is probably the funnest music to do, and a bit of the new stuff.”
MacDonald’s playlist on the ice has also been diverse. He sometimes took the road less travelled throughout his career, including stops in junior B and high school hockey and even one junior season in Maine. He overcame minor hockey disappointments, notably being cut from major midget teams in back-to-back seasons, and stuck with his dream.
“Honestly, it’s a story I can look back on and be proud of,” MacDonald said.
He became the lone Nova Scotian on Campbellton’s roster after another MacDonald, 17-year-old forward Cael, was called up to the QMJHL’s Chicoutimi Sagueneens in January.