Cale Makar
| Cale Makar | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
October 30, 1998 Calgary, Alberta, Canada | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
| Weight | 187 lb (85 kg; 13 st 5 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shoots | Right | ||
| NCAA team | UMass Minutemen | ||
| NHL Draft |
4th overall, 2017 Colorado Avalanche | ||
| Playing career | TBD–present | ||
Cale Douglas Makar (born October 30, 1998) is a Canadian college ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the University of Massachusetts–Amherst of the Hockey East (HE). He was selected fourth overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.[1]
Playing career
Junior
Makar, a Calgary, Alberta native, first played within the Crowchild Blackhawks minor-hockey program before moving to play with the NWCAA Bruins at the Bantam level in 2011. He also played bantam with the Calgary Flames before moving to minor midget with the NWCAA Stampeders.[2] Makar was originally drafted at the major junior level by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the eighth round (No. 164) of the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft.[3]
Having returned to the Calgary Flames for the minor midget level, Makar in his only full season with the club in 2014–15 led the team in scoring with 23 points in 34 league games, being named the team's Most Valuable Player and selected to the Alberta Midget Hockey League First All-Star Team. To retain his NCAA eligibility, Makar joined as an affiliate player to the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League at the tail end of the season, recording 5 points in 3 regular season games. In helping the Bandits reach the finals, Makar was third among defenceman in scoring with 7 points in 20 games. Having agreed to return with the Bandits in the forthcoming seasons, Makar announced his commitment to play collegiate hockey with the University of Massachusetts–Amherst of the Hockey East on August 29, 2015.[4]
As a 17-year-old, Makar established himself as a standout defenceman with the Bandits in 2015–16, logging 55 points in 54 games, en route to earning AJHL All-League and All-Rookie recognition. He scored 14 points in 13 games to help the Bandits claim the AJHL championship. His productive season collected AJHL and CJHL Rookie of the Year Awards, the Western Canada Cup Top Defenceman Award, and the RBC Cup Top Defenceman, Top Scorer and Most Valuable Player awards.[5]
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Makar sustained and built upon his previous success in the 2016–17 season, to lead all defencemen and finished sixth among all skaters in the AJHL with 75 points (24 goals, 51 assists) in 54 games collecting the league's most valuable player and top defenceman accolades. He had 16 points in 13 playoff games to help Brooks to a second straight AJHL championship and six points in five games to help the Bandits to a second-place finish in the Royal Bank Cup. He was chosen as the RBC Cup Top Defenceman and Most Valuable Player, the first player to ever be named RBC Cup MVP in back-to-back seasons. He received the CJHL Most Valuable Player Award and won the prestigious RBC National Junior A Player of the Year Award.[6]
Through Makar's rapid rise up the rankings prior to the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, he was considered a top prospect and one of the top defencemen available.[7] He was described as a dynamic skater that creates offence whenever he is on the ice.[8] He was the second defenceman, 4th overall, to be selected in the draft by the Colorado Avalanche. He was the highest drafted player to come straight from the AJHL, and just the second in the first-round since Joe Colborne in 2008.[9]
College
Despite his blue-chip prospect status, Makar opted to remain loyal to his commitment in joining the rebuilding UMass Minuteman program for the 2017–18 season.[10] As a freshman he immediately assumed a top-pairing role, alongside Jake McLaughlin, and recorded his first collegiate point in a his debut against Arizona State University on October 6, 2017. He recorded his first goal in a 4–0 victory over Merrimack College on October 27, 2017.[11]
International play
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  | ||
| Ice hockey | ||
| World Junior Championships | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 2018 United States | |
| Representing | ||
| World Junior A Challenge | ||
| 2015 Cobourg & Whitby | |
Makar was first selected by Hockey Canada to compete for Team Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge in 2015 and 2016. He was selected to the Tournament All-Star Team in both years and helped Canada West to a gold medal in 2015. Unable to defend the gold medal Makar followed up by setting a tournament single-game record for points by a defenceman in 2016.[12] Makar appeared for Team Canada at the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Michigan. He had one goal and one assist during the exhibition. His single tally came at a pivotal time on August 4, 2017 against Sweden, tying the contest 4-4 in the third period. The marker re-energized the Canadians as they registered three more goals to pull off a 7-4 win.[10]
Makar was selected to the Team Canada's under-20 team for the 2018 World Junior Championships in Buffalo, New York, winning gold. Makar finished the tournament leading all defenceman with 3 goals and 8 points in 7 games, and was the only Canadian named to the All-Tournament Team.[13]
Following the World Juniors, Makar reportedly turned down an invite to join the senior team for the Olympics in Pyeongchang in order to focus on his season at UMass, as he would have had to miss three weeks for the tournament.[14]
Personal
Makar is the son of Gary Makar and Laura MacGregor.[5] His younger brother Taylor, plays at the junior level with the Brooks Bandits and his cousin Mark Logan also plays collegiate hockey with R.I.T.[15]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2011–12 | NWCAA Bruins | HCBAA | 28 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | Calgary Flames Bantam | AMBHL | 33 | 3 | 19 | 22 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | NWCAA Stampeders | AMMHL | 36 | 9 | 19 | 28 | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Calgary Flames Midget | AMHL | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Calgary Flames Midget | AMHL | 34 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | Brooks Bandits | AJHL | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 2015–16 | Brooks Bandits | AJHL | 54 | 10 | 45 | 55 | 28 | 13 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | Brooks Bandits | AJHL | 54 | 24 | 51 | 75 | 18 | 13 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 4 | ||
| 2017–18 | UMass-Amherst | HE | 34 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NCAA totals | 34 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Canada West | WJAC |  |
4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2016 | Canada West | WJAC | 5th | 4 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2018 | Canada | WJC | |
7 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 15 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 0 | ||||
Awards and honours
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| AMHL | ||
| First All-Star Team | 2015 | |
| AJHL | ||
| South All-Rookie Team | 2016 | |
| South All-Star Team | 2016 | |
| Rookie of the Year | 2016 | [5] |
| CJHL Rookie of the Year | 2016 | |
| RBC Roland Mericer Trophy (MVP) | 2016, 2017 | |
| RBC Top Defenseman | 2016, 2017 | |
| RBC Top Scorer | 2016 | |
| Most Outstanding defensmean | 2017 | |
| MVP | 2017 | [16] |
| Playoff MVP | 2017 | |
| RBC CJHL Player of the Year | 2017 | [17] |
| International | ||
| WJC All-Tournament Team | 2018 | [13] |
References
- ↑ "Calgary's Cale Makar becomes highest drafted player from AJHL". Calgary Herald. 2017-06-23. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ↑ "AMMHL congratulates NHL draft choices of 2017". AMMHL.com. 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
- ↑ Vickers, Aaron (2017-04-10). "2017 Draft: Cale Makar rapidly gaining attention". National Hockey League. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
- ↑ "Cale Makar commits to the University of Massachusetts". juniorhockey.ca. 2015-08-29. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
- 1 2 3 "Cale Makar: UMass hockey's crown jewel". daileycollegian.com. 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
- ↑ "5 things to know about Cale Makar". National Hockey League. 2017-06-01. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
- ↑ "Makar Following Jost's Path To The NHL". NHL.com. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- ↑ "Prospect Profile: Cale Makar". NHL.com. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- ↑ "CJHL's Cale Makar goes fourth overall in draft". Canadian Junior Hockey League. 2017-06-24. Retrieved 2017-06-24.
- 1 2 "Makar excited to develop at UMass". Colorado Avalanche. 2017-08-23. Retrieved 2017-08-23.
- ↑ "UMass defenseman register all four goals in 4-0 victory over Merrimack". dailycollegian.com. 2017-10-27. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
- ↑ Mooney, Patrick. "Maple Leafs Pre-Playoff Draft Preview: Cale Makar". Real Sport 101. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
- 1 2 Yerdon, Joe (January 6, 2018). "Canada defeats Sweden for gold medal at World Juniors". NHL.com. Buffalo. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
- ↑ "Avalanche prospect Cale Makar turns down 2018 Olympics invite from Team Canada, per report". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
- ↑ "Mark Logan player profile". eliteprospects.com. 2017-06-23. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ↑ "Cale Makar player profile". UMass Minutemen. 2017-07-23. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
- ↑ "RBC Cup award winners named". Hockey Canada. 2017-05-19. Retrieved 2017-05-19.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tyson Jost |
Colorado Avalanche first round draft pick 2017 |
Succeeded by Martin Kaut |