Focus key for Warriors' goalie Matt McDonald

Grade 9 Edge School Hockey Skill Academy student was recently featured in the Strathmore Standard. Goaltender Matt McDonald of the Wheatland Bantam AA Warriors has been a key cog in the teams stellar performance this season that has seen the team near the top of the SCAHL’s North Division standings all season. McDonald represented his squad as a league all star last weekend and sits in the top two of both goals against average and save percentage in the league.

STRATHMORE STANDARD | Josh Chalmers / Multimedia Journalist

Matt McDonald is focused on focus, well that and its siamese twin of sports descriptors, consistency.

The first year Wheatland Bantam AA Warriors netminder must be a coach’s dream when it comes to the mental aspect of the game.

The 14-year-old Chestermere product and Edge School attendee has been near the top of the league in goals against average and save percentage all year and currently sits in second for both while posting an 8-2-3 record.

When asked about what the key to his success has been this year the answer is one that coaches everywhere strive for.

“It’s not like I’m having insane games and then bad games I’ve just been consistent in my play,” says McDonald.

His coach agrees with McDonald’s assessment.

“He’s just been a real consistent goalie all year,” says Warriors coach Troy Koester. “That’s pretty much what you’re looking for out of a goalie, a consistent performance.”

While being consistent has been the end result what about the reason that he’s been able to remain so consistent.

“I just try to focus on moving ahead and not thinking about whether you’ve just been scored on or not. Just focus on keeping your composure,” he says.

That doesn’t just extend to the goalie’s own play. McDonald says that while his team is having a “really good year” the future playoff and provincial success hinges greatly on maintaining focus and remaining consistent.

“Sometimes we have a bad game. Not often just a couple of times,” he says, “We just need to focus on playing the full 60 minutes. Sometimes we have a bad period and then get back into it, we need to avoid having those bad periods.”

While on the ice, McDonald does all he can to make sure his teammates heads are also in the game.

“I talk a lot to my defenseman, like a lot,” emphasizes McDonald. “Telling them if there’s a guy on them or if there’s an opening whatever can help them out.”

It would take a lot of focus to maintain McDonald’s level of commitment to the game. As a student at the Edge School, based in Springbank on the western outskirts of Calgary, he commutes from Chestermere for school and to Strathmore for hockey leading to some long days.

Outside of the travel he’s on the ice for about seven or eight practices or games a week. One would think the mind might wander a bit after the seventh time in a week that you strap on the pads.

While remaining attentive and focused is clearly something that McDonald has at the forefront of his mind he says the solution to burn out is simple.

“Sometimes you do burn out a little, but then you just take like a half a week off or a week off and your head’s right back in it,” he says.

While maintaining mental focus on the ice is clearly priority one, on the technical side McDonald says he’s really working hard on his stance right now.

“My stance is different because my pads are so wide on my stance. I’m just trying to get more upright,” he says.

While it’s only his first year in AA McDonald said he hasn’t found the jump that drastic from the Tier 1 bantam level he played last year. For next year he has his eyes set on three possibilities in the Midget AA Chiefs, the minor midget Raiders out of Chestermere and the Edge Midget AA team.

For now McDonald will continue to maintain focused on the Warriors stretch drive to the playoffs and the provincial qualifications happening this week.

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