Railers defenseman Cam McDonald was a nifty plus-9 last season, best on the team for a defender. However, there is also a minus-40 in his hockey past.
McDonald grew up in Alaska, the chilliest of our 50 states. He played a lot of outdoor hockey as a kid and one day skated when it was a crispy 40 below zero in the fresh air, give or take a degree.
“It was in Glennallen,” McDonald recalled. “If you’re leaving Alaska, and taking the Alaska-Canada Highway down, it’s basically along the way. I don’t know why we stopped to play, but a storm was coming through…the guys all had crystalized eyelashes, their spit was freezing — it was crazy.”
What a relief, then, for McDonald to continue his hockey career in the relative winter warmth of New England. He played five years of varsity hockey at Providence College. This will be McDonald’s third pro season, all of them around here. He has skated for the Railers and the AHL Bridgeport Islanders.
McDonald was one of the many Railers who played some of his best hockey at the end of last season. Worcester finished the year with six straight victories. In one of them, the fourth during the streak, McDonald scored a long empty net goal with 11 seconds left to seal a 3-1 victory in Maine.
It was his first as a professional in his 102nd game as a pro.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to score a little more this year,” McDonald said, “but that one broke the seal, so the monkey’s off my back and that pressure is not there anymore.”
McDonald has had a lot more to do with his team getting points in the standings than piling them up personally. Coach Nick Tuzzolino thinks McDonald has American Hockey League ability and is projecting a good year from him no matter what the personal numbers.
“I don’t think it holds him back,” Tuzzolino said of McDonald’s defense-first approach. “He is a guy we are going to start using a little more. He is a No.1 or 2 (defenseman) the way he plays and he should be used in all situations.
“He is very defensive minded, very good at being patient, efficient with his movement. His offensive side is really good. He’s got a shot that he probably doesn’t use enough, one of the better one-timers on our team.”
McDonald is physical but stays out of the penalty box. He is one of the best skaters on a roster that has several of them.
He was not drafted but pours a good one.
McDonald’s dad, Reid McDonald, is a former Michigan Tech player who founded Odd Man Rush Brewery in Eagle River, just outside of Anchorage. Cam McDonald was back home for part of the summer, building decks and working at the brewery serving customers.
“A beer has to have an inch, a good inch, of head or AKA foam for beer terminology, but I leave a good inch up there,” he said. McDonald’s favorite of his dad’s beers is a porter, the Pararescue 212.
His first season with the Railers was two years ago. McDonald was on a two-way deal with Bridgeport and spent about half the year on the AHL roster, half with the Railers. It was not an easy introduction to pro hockey.
“It was a 50-50 split,” he recalled, “and honestly, that was kind of tough because you’re living out of your car, bouncing around, in and out of different hotels.” McDonald played 16 games for the Islanders and experienced enough to make him confident he can play at the AHL level.
“I definitely can,” he said. “It’s a step up, a quicker pace to everything, another step up.”
Tuzzolino is of the same mind.
“He’s reliable, he’s physical, he’s in phenomenal shape, he skates beyond well enough to be at that next level,” the coach said. “I don’t think it holds him back, not scoring a lot. I do think in this league you’re either a prospect who goes right away or you’ve got to build that two to four year base to really prove yourself as a pro.
“He’s about 25 now and I can see him spending that later half of his career, that 25 to 30 range, in the American Hockey League.”
McDonald’s next goal will double his pro total. Tuzzolino expects that to happen sooner, not later.
“I’d be shocked if it takes to the last game, or close to the last game, and be an empty netter,” the coach said, “what with his talent and ability.”
The Railers opened their exhibition season this weekend with a two-game set versus Maine, the same team McDonald scored against last year. They open the regular season at the DCU Center on Saturday, Oct. 17, also versus the Mariners.
Both McDonald and his teammates would like to start this season the same way the last one ended.
Bill Ballou can be reached at vetgoalie@aol.com
