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Cale Makar

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Cale Makar
Born (1998-10-30) October 30, 1998 (age 26)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 187 lb (85 kg; 13 st 5 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Right
NHL team Colorado Avalanche
NHL draft 4th overall, 2017
Colorado Avalanche
Playing career 2019–present

Cale Douglas Makar (born October 30, 1998) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the first round, fourth overall, by the Avalanche in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.[1]

Playing career

Junior

Makar, a Calgary 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 Western Hockey League (WHL)'s Medicine Hat Tigers in the eighth round, 164th overall, of the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft.[3]

Having returned to the Calgary Flames for the minor midget level, in his only full season with the club in 2014–15, Makar 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 (AJHL) at the tail end of the season, recording five points in three 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 NCAA conference 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]

Makar selected by the Avalanche at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

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 and 51 assists) in 54 games, collecting the league's MVP 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] Makar was ultimately selected fourth overall by the Colorado Avalanche, the second defenceman selected in the draft, after third overall selection Miro Heiskanen. Makar became 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 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]

While showing an adjustment period to the collegiate level, Makar raised his game through the new year to help the Minutemen to turnaround their program to make the post-season before suffering a 7–2 defeat to the hands of Northeastern University. He finished fifth on the team in scoring, second amongst defenceman, with 5 goals and 16 assists for 21 points in 34 games.[12] He was selected with co-Rookie of the Year honors by the New England Hockey Writers Association and by finishing ninth in defenceman scoring in the Hockey East, he was selected to the conference's All-Rookie and Third All-Star Teams.[13]

With the season concluded and despite interest from the Colorado Avalanche in turning pro, Makar opted to continue his development in returning for his sophomore season with UMass in 2018–19.[14] That season, Makar became the first Minutemen honored as Hockey East Player of the Year after he led the league in scoring and finished second in the conference.[15] Makar was also selected for the Hockey East First All-Star Team[16] and named a Hobey Baker Award finalist.[17] On April 12, Makar was announced the winner of the Hobey Baker.[18] The following night, Makar and the Minutemen lost 3–0 to University of Minnesota Duluth in the Frozen Four final.[19]

Professional

On April 14, 2019, the Avalanche signed Makar to a three-year, entry-level contract.[20] He scored his first career NHL goal with his first shot in the league in his debut a day later, during Game 3 of the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Calgary Flames. In so doing, he became the first defenseman to score a playoff goal in his NHL debut.[21]

Makar made the Avalanche opening line up for the 2019–20 season and he scored his first career regular season goal in a 6–1 win over the Golden Knights.[22] He was subsequently named a Third Star of the Week for the week of November 10, becoming the first Avalanche rookie to earn the honor.[23] On November 12, 2019 in a 4–0 road win against the Winnipeg Jets, Makar became the second Avalanche defenceman to record 18 points in 18 games as a rookie.[24] However, he suffered an upper body injury in a game against the Boston Bruins on December 7 and was listed as day-to-day. At the time of his injury, he was leading rookies in scoring with 28 points in 29 games.[25] Makar returned to the Avalanche’s lineup on December 27, where he recorded an assist in the 6–4 loss to the Minnesota Wild.[26]

International play

Medal record
Representing  Canada
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 United States

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.[27] Unable to defend the gold medal, Makar followed up by setting a tournament single-game record for points by a defenceman in 2016.[28] 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 goal came at a pivotal time on August 4, 2017, against Sweden, tying the game 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 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 three goals and eight points in seven games, and was the only Canadian named to the All-Tournament Team.[29]

Following the World Juniors, Makar reportedly turned down an invite to join the Canadian senior team for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in order to focus on his season at UMass, as he would have had to miss three weeks for the tournament.[30]

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, at the Rochester Institute of Technology.[31] He is of Ukrainian descent on his father's side.[32]

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 — — — — —
2018–19 UMass-Amherst HE 41 16 33 49 31 — — — — —
2018–19 Colorado Avalanche NHL — — — — — 10 1 5 6 0
NHL totals — — — — — 10 1 5 6 0

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2015 Canada West WJAC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 1 0 1 0
2016 Canada West WJAC 5th 4 4 4 8 0
2018 Canada WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 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 Mercier Trophy (MVP) 2016, 2017
RBC Top Defenceman 2016, 2017
RBC Top Scorer 2016
Most Outstanding Defenceman 2017
MVP 2017 [33]
Playoff MVP 2017
RBC CJHL Player of the Year 2017 [34]
College
HE All-Rookie Team 2018 [13]
HE Third All-Star Team 2018 [35]
New England Rookie of the Year 2018 [36]
HE Scoring Leader 2019 [37]
HE First All-Star Team 2019 [16]
HE Player of the Year (unanimous) 2019 [15]
First Team All-American 2019 [38]
Hobey Baker Award 2019 [18]
New England Best Defenseman 2019 [39]
New England Player of the Year 2019 [40]
New England All-Star 2019 [41]
CHN Player of the Year 2019 [42]
All-CHN First Team 2019 [42]
USCHO Player of the Year 2019 [43]
NCAA Scoring Leader (defenseman) 2019 [44]
NCAA Northeast Regional MVP 2019 [45]
UMass Male Athlete of the Year 2019
International
WJC All-Tournament Team 2018 [29]

References

  1. ^ "Calgary's Cale Makar becomes highest drafted player from AJHL". Calgary Herald. June 23, 2017. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  2. ^ "AMMHL congratulates NHL draft choices of 2017". AMMHL.com. June 29, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  3. ^ Vickers, Aaron (April 10, 2017). "2017 Draft: Cale Makar rapidly gaining attention". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  4. ^ "Cale Makar commits to the University of Massachusetts". juniorhockey.ca. August 29, 2015. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c "Cale Makar: UMass hockey's crown jewel". daileycollegian.com. October 19, 2017. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  6. ^ "5 things to know about Cale Makar". National Hockey League. June 1, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  7. ^ "Makar Following Jost's Path To The NHL". NHL.com. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  8. ^ "Prospect Profile: Cale Makar". NHL.com. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  9. ^ "CJHL's Cale Makar goes fourth overall in draft". Canadian Junior Hockey League. June 24, 2017. Archived from the original on November 13, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  10. ^ a b "Makar excited to develop at UMass". Colorado Avalanche. August 23, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  11. ^ "UMass defenseman register all four goals in 4-0 victory over Merrimack". dailycollegian.com. October 27, 2017. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  12. ^ "Cale Makar to return to Minutemen for another season". MassLive.com. April 2, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  13. ^ a b "Avalanche getting ready to watch Makar succeed". milehighstickting.com. September 5, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  14. ^ "Star defenseman Cale Makar returning for his sophomore season". gazettenet.com. April 1, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  15. ^ a b "Cale Makar tabbed as Hockey East's best player". Hockey East. March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  16. ^ a b "Hockey East names 2018-19 All-Star Teams". Hockey East. March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  17. ^ "Makar Chosen As Hobey Baker Top 10 Finalist". umassathletics.com. March 20, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  18. ^ a b "Makar, Avalanche prospect, wins Hobey Baker Award". NHL.com. April 12, 2019. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  19. ^ Wawrow, John. "Minnesota Duluth wins 2nd straight title, beating UMass 3-0". Star Tribune. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  20. ^ "Avalanche Signs Cale Makar to Entry-Level Contract". Colorado Avalanche. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  21. ^ @PR_NHL (April 15, 2019). "Cale Makar of the @Avalanche is the seventh player in NHL history and first defenseman to make his League debut in the #StanleyCup Playoffs and score a goal. #NHLStats" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. ^ "Ex-UMass star Cale Makar scores first NHL regular-season goal in Colorado Avalanche win (video)". masslive.com. October 25, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  23. ^ Parmele, Callie (November 11, 2019). "Makar Named NHL Third Star of the Week". nhl.com. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  24. ^ Knabenbauer, Ron (November 12, 2019). "Rapid Recap: Avalanche 4, Jets 0". nhl.com. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  25. ^ "Avalanche's Cale Makar to miss game vs. Flames with upper-body injury". sportsnet.ca. December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  26. ^ Kelly, Michael (December 27, 2019). "Wild scores 3 times in third period, rally past Avs 6 4". Minnesota Star Tribune. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  27. ^ Bob Mckenzie (December 12, 2016). "Creating NHL draft buzz at the World Jr A Challenge". The Sports Network. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  28. ^ Mooney, Patrick (March 23, 2017). "Maple Leafs Pre-Playoff Draft Preview: Cale Makar". Real Sport 101. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  29. ^ a b Yerdon, Joe (January 6, 2018). "Canada defeats Sweden for gold medal at World Juniors". NHL.com. Buffalo. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  30. ^ "Avalanche prospect Cale Makar turns down 2018 Olympics invite from Team Canada, per report". SBNation.com. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  31. ^ "Mark Logan player profile". eliteprospects.com. June 23, 2017. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  32. ^ Stelmach, Ihor. "Ukrainian pro hockey update". The Ukrainian Weekly. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  33. ^ "Cale Makar player profile". UMass Minutemen. July 23, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  34. ^ "RBC Cup award winners named". Hockey Canada. May 19, 2017. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
  35. ^ "Makar making strides as Avalanche prospect". National Hockey League. July 22, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  36. ^ "Cale Makar opens up on decision to return". dailycollegian.com. April 2, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  37. ^ "2018-2019 Hockey East Overall Category Leaders". hockeyeastonline.com. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  38. ^ "2018-19 All-Americans - American Hockey Coaches Association". www.ahcahockey.com. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  39. ^ "UMass Amherst hockey head coach Greg Carvel named 2019 Spencer Penrose Award Winner". University of Massachusetts. April 11, 2019. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  40. ^ "UMass Amherst hockey head coach Greg Carvel named 2019 Spencer Penrose Award Winner". University of Massachusetts. April 11, 2019. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  41. ^ "UMass Amherst hockey head coach Greg Carvel named 2019 Spencer Penrose Award Winner". University of Massachusetts. April 11, 2019. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  42. ^ a b "Makar Named CHN Player of the Year". College Hockey News. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  43. ^ "Hobey Baker winner Makar chosen USCHO Player of the Year in helping UMass to national championship game". April 19, 2019.
  44. ^ "2018‑19 NCAA Statistics - Scoring Leaders". College Hockey News. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  45. ^ "UMass' Makar Tabbed Hobey Hat Trick Finalist". University of Massachusetts Athletics. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Colorado Avalanche first round draft pick
2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Hockey East Player of the Year
2018–19 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Hobey Baker Award
2018–19 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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