It’s been a whirlwind of a week for MacKenzie Weegar.
Eight days ago, he was presented with a trade that would send him from the Calgary Flames to the Utah Mammoth.
The decision as to whether or not to move was entirely up to Weegar and his wife, Maggie, thanks to the no-trade clause in his contract. The couple took a few hours to weigh out the pros and cons, and eventually concluded that there were no cons at all.
It took a few days to get Weegar, a Canadian citizen, his work visa — but as soon as he got it, he caught an early-morning flight to Columbus and played that night.
“It was nice to kind of just be thrown into the fire, honestly,” Weegar said after morning skate on Thursday. “I prefer it like that. You know, the first game was uncomfortable, but I like feeling uncomfortable in those situations.”
That night, he tallied his first point in his new colors — and assist on Alexander Kerfoot’s goal. Two games later, he’d also registered his first fight as a Mammoth.
“He’s (fit) in the locker room really good,” said Mammoth head coach André Tourigny. “He’s an up-tempo guy. He’s meshed really well with the boys. So far, (he’s) really good on the ice, as well.”
Tourigny mentioned that it takes time to learn the structure and systems when a player switches teams, but he has liked Weegar’s play in general. And Weegar said that Tourigny and his staff have been very supportive in helping him learn the structure and systems.
“The chemistry, it’ll come,” Weegar said. “Obviously, it’s not going to be perfect every game, that’s just hockey at the end of the day, but if I can get the chemistry going as fast as possible, I think that’s going to help us in the playoffs early on.
Weegar now prepares for his first home game as a Mammoth. The last time he was at the Delta Center was Utah’s home opener, which he described as “really, really loud.”
“We’ve got to check hard,” he said in anticipation of another matchup with the Chicago Blackhawks — a team to which the Mammoth have lost twice already this month. “We’ve got to check for our chances. We spoke about it this morning. This time of year, things tighten up a lot. You’ve got to play that playoff hockey. It’s wearing those D down, it’s transitioning quick.”
He was impressed Thursday morning when he walked into the newly constructed Mammoth Ice Center in Sandy.
“This place is absolutely stunning,” he said. “When I came in this morning, it was a lot different for me, for sure. I wasn’t used to facilities like this. It’s nice. You have everything you need here, and that’s really important for players.”
It all contributes to the goal which Weegar and the Mammoth share.
“At the end of the day, it’s about winning, and I want to win here,” he said. “I want to bring the Cup here — and I know all these guys do, too.”