‘Big wake-up call’ pushed Flames’ Weegar to work on his game

Seven years ago, MacKenzie Weegar thought his future was more likely to be spent working on a construction site than playing hockey in an arena.

Then a Florida Panthers prospect, the 2013 seventh-round draft pick had just been demoted from the American Hockey League to the East Coast Hockey League. Weegar had to mature, on and off the ice, and was told as much by team brass.

“I thought the world was ending and I was crying,” he said, recounting that moment during the 2014-15 season in Adirondack, N.Y., when he was in his early twenties and told he’d be going to the ECHL.

“[Dale Tallon, then the Panthers general manager] had some choice words for me that I won’t ever forget…he basically said, ‘You’re easily replaceable. You haven’t done anything major to keep yourself around. You’ve got to wake up.’ That was the nice way he probably put it.” 

By his own admission, at that time Weegar didn’t even know how to do his own laundry.

“That was a big wake-up call I needed,” Weegar, now 28, said. “He pushed the right buttons.”

Tallon wasn’t the first hockey decision-maker to read the riot act to Weegar. As a rookie in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Weegar was a key part of the Halifax Mooseheads’ 2013 Memorial Cup-winning squad, anchoring the second power-play unit on a team with future NHL stars Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin. 

“You could see really good potential, but at the same time, he had a lot to learn, on and off the ice,” said Dominique Ducharme, then the Mooseheads’ head coach.

“You could see really good vision, good poise with the puck, and competitiveness. He’s a competitive guy. The bigger the moment was, the better he was. He had to mature as a young man and hockey player and slowly he did that.”

To coach his young blueliner, Ducharme gave him a nickname.

“At times, I was calling him by ‘Joe Cool’ because he kind of became complacent a little bit, so I had to catch his attention and put him to work,” Ducharme said.

“He understood that I cared [for] all our players, including him…I wanted to take them to another level and prepare them to be pros.”

Ducharme’s methods had an effect, and the Panthers chose Weegar with one of the final picks (206th overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft.  Weegar’s family thought the Boston Bruins would draft him, but Paul Gallagher, then a scout with the Panthers, implored Tallon to trade up.

“We did not have a seventh-round pick,” Gallagher said.

“I’m trying to get my GM’s attention. There’s some chatter going on [at the Panthers’ draft table], so finally I hit the table with my hands. I went, ‘Dale…You gotta get me a pick…I want that Weegar kid out of Halifax.’”

In the teenage Weegar, Gallagher saw a right-handed blueliner who had offensive instincts, could quarterback a power play, and was not afraid to skate with the puck. 

“When the opening was there, he wasn’t afraid to take it,” Gallagher said.

“You could just see him getting more confidence every game.”

It took some time, but Weegar eventually proved Tallon, Gallagher and Ducharme right. 

He made his NHL debut with Florida in 2017 and has since ascended to the top of his craft. 

Over the past two seasons, Weegar is fifth among all NHL defencemen in even-strength points and third in even-strength on-ice goal differential. The Ottawa native is one of the league’s best at denying zone entries and breaking up passes in the defensive zone and just signed an eight-year, $50 million contract extension that will keep him in Calgary through the 2030-31 season.

Early in his tenure in southern Alberta, Flames head coach Darryl Sutter has lauded Weegar’s coachability and his willingness to be a student of the game, a testament to how he has grown over the years.

“I think, to be honest, a lot of stuff had to come from within,” Weegar said of his maturation.

“You could have a bunch of people helping you out…they’re all saying the right things, but it ultimately comes down to you, myself and buying into getting yourself in shape and staying on the ice for extra time and working on things you need to improve on. I did that stuff.”

“Once he figured it out,” Gallagher said, “he figured it out.”

SPARKS OFF THE FIRE

-Weegar made a point of saying how much of an influence Aaron Ekblad has been during his career. The two played together in Florida for years, and were one of the league’s best defence pairings last season.

“It was weird to say Ekblad because he’s younger than me, but he did have a huge influence on me,” said Weegar, who is also a big Call of Duty guy.

“For his age, he’s super mature. He’s almost my older brother, but he’s younger than me.” I’d have to give him so much credit to where I’ve come because he’s taught me a lot. He’s taught me to have good habits, to really work on your game, in and outside of the rink.”

-Weegar: “Dealing with you guys [media], for me, it’s awesome. The hype about the Canadian media is great. You guys are awesome…we’re going to be here a long time and I’ll get to know you guys a lot more. it just makes it more enjoyable.”