SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — “(Coming to Summerside) I knew I would not be coming in as a starter. Tmej is awesome. He is a great goalie and a great mentor for me. I'm excited to play with him and watch him play every day. It’s a good experience.”
- Alec MacVicar
It’s not an easy role, but it’s one Alec MacVicar welcomes and understands.
The 18-year-old goaltender from Cole Harbour, N.S., is in his first season with the Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals of the Maritime Junior Hockey League.
“I know right now I am the back-up goalie, but I can’t think that,” said MacVicar. “I am going to think in my head I am the best goalie in the league, even though I know I am not. It’s good to think that.”
After spending the 2018-19 campaign with the Yarmouth Mariners, MacVicar is back in a supporting role in Summerside behind Dominik Tmej, who has been selected the 12-team league’s goaltender of the year the past two seasons.
“I was a rookie behind (Spring Valley native) Tyler Caseley (with Yarmouth) and he is a great goalie and a great guy,” said MacVicar. “(Coming to Summerside) I knew I would not be coming in as a starter.
“Tmej is awesome. He is a great goalie and a great mentor for me. I'm excited to play with him and watch him play every day. It’s a good experience.”
“I had a good start in the exhibition games and then LB took me aside and told me I was coming here,” said MacVicar. “I was sad I was leaving the team I played with last year, but I was excited to get something new started with the team here.”
So far so good, says MacVicar.
“I like it (in Summerside),” he continued. “I love the Island, we have a great coaching staff and a great group of guys. I have been welcomed here.”
Like MacVicar, 19-year-old defenceman Theo Citrullo is in his first year with the Caps and has transitioned into a new dressing room. He says MacVicar has fit right in with his new teammates.
“He’s awesome,” said Citrullo, who is from Belleville, Ont. “If you consider him the back-up, he’s a really good one to have around.
“He’s always joking around. I hang around with him a lot off the ice, too, and have got to know him well. He's a really good guy to have around.”
Away from the rink, Citrullo said things are never dull with MacVicar around.
“He’s funny,” added Citrullo. “He’s learning the guitar and he always talks about that.
“He and I are pretty bad at basketball when we play together.”
Stats
On the ice, though, MacVicar is all business and brings a team-first attitude. He is 2-1-0 (won-lost-overtime losses) in three starts and has a 3.67 goals-against average and .892 save percentage.
“He understands he is probably going to be the guy here next year,” said Caps head coach Billy McGuigan. “It has to be a focus thing for guys like Alec. They have to be ready in practice, have to be ready on the bench and always stay focused and it requires a bit of mental toughness.
“He has shown that he has that right now and he’s not upset if he doesn’t get the net. He understands that Dom is a good goalie, but when Alec gets in there he gives us a chance to win.”
A look at Alec MacVicar’s three starts this season:
- Stopped 30 of 32 shots in a 7-2 road win over the Fredericton Red Wings on Sept. 21.
- Stopped 25 of 29 shots in a 6-4 road win over the Miramichi Timberwolves on Sept. 26.
- Stopped 36 of 41 shots in a 5-1 road loss to the Grand Falls Rapids on Oct. 4.
The Caps acquired MacVicar, who stands over six feet and weighs 195 pounds, from Yarmouth on Aug. 30 in exchange for an eighth-round draft choice in 2020 and future considerations. He said he was “surprised” to learn he was moved during a conversation with Mariners general manager and head coach Laurie Barron.
MacVicar will make his fourth start of the season on Friday night in Truro, N.S., against the Bearcats. He admits he doesn’t feel “pressured" to perform when he gets the opportunity to play, considering he may, at times, go a couple of weeks between starts.
“I might feel a bit nervous, but that’s part of the game and part of being a goalie mostly,” said MacVicar, who will be seeing his first game action since Oct. 4. “What I’ve learned over the past couple of years is that I have to be good at being focused, come in and be ready to go.
“If I'm not playing, or if I am playing, either way, I have to be focused.”
Alec MacVicar started playing goal full time in his second year of atom hockey.
“I liked playing goalie in mini sticks and I wanted to give it a try on the ice,” explained MacVicar. “When I was in novice I was playing every third game as a goalie and I liked it.
“Then atom came and I wanted to switch. My dad (Jamie) said if you are switching you are not going back. I switched and haven’t gone back.”
Upcoming Games
Friday
Opponent: at Truro Bearcats.
Arena: Rath Eastlink Community Centre, Truro, N.S.
Game time: 7 p.m.
Records: Caps - 8-3-0 (won-lost-overtime losses); Bearcats - 2-6-3.
On the road: Caps: 4-3-0.
At home: Bearcats: 1-0-1.
Season series: This will be the first of two regular-season meetings between the two teams.
Saturday
Opponent: Hosting Campbellton Tigers.
Arena: Eastlink Arena, Summerside.
Game time: 7 p.m.
Records: Caps - 8-3-0; Tigers - 5-2-1.
At home: Caps: 4-0-0.
On the road: Tigers: 4-1-1.
Season series: This will be the second meeting between the two teams in a week. The Tigers won 4-3 in Campbellton, N.B., on Monday night.
