McDonald has come a long ways in the sport of hockey

HC Ryan McDonald, centre, addresses the Raiders players in a timeout.

What would that scrappy 14-year-old Prince Albert Mintos forward from 2002 have said if someone told him he would become the head coach of the Prince Albert Raiders one day?

Way back in 2002, Ryan McDonald attended training camp and skated in practice sessions with the Mintos under-18 AAA team looking to get some extra ice time before playing in his upcoming under-14 season. The young 14-year-old who lived on 11^th Avenue East made an approach to the Mintos coaching staff, who elected to have him on the ice as an extra skater for drills.

The Mintos were looking to have a fairly strong team that season, and they would have a number of forwards who all had great campaigns including Chris Wilson, Tyler Mugford, Cole Fern, Scott Vaughan and Dallas Thiessen. As the skating sessions went on, an idea came up about offering McDonald a spot on the Mintos forward group as a 14-year-old underage player.

Ron Bonneau, who was the Mintos head coach that season, brought the idea up amongst the team’s older players, and they thought it would be a good idea to have McDonald on the team. When offered the spot, McDonald was more than happy to suit up for the Mintos.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click right here.