Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Marc-Olivier Daigle was in Vancouver, preparing to play against UBC in an exhibition game last month when he received a game-changing text.
The Edmonton Oilers wanted to know if he would be their emergency goaltender this season.
Um, yes.
"I wasn't expecting that at all," said Daigle, who will lead the MacEwan Griffins into their home opener on Friday vs. Red Deer College (7 p.m., Downtown Community Arena). "In some ways, that's being part of the Oilers organization.
"For them to want me to come with all the goalies that are around the city, it's pretty exciting. I'm happy to be part of it. I get to watch games and just be there in case."
His first assignment was last Saturday with the Oilers hosting the Los Angeles Kings. It was a busy night for Daigle, who was in goal for the Griffins during a 4-2 preseason win over Concordia at 6 p.m. in the DCA. By 8:30 p.m., with the Oilers' game already in full swing, he was scrambling out of his gear and heading down the hallway to the attached Rogers Place.
As it goes for emergency goaltenders in the NHL, they wait in the press box, on call in case a goaltender on either team leaves with an injury. If that happens, they would head to the dressing room and put their gear on in the unlikely event that team's backup is forced to leave the game.
The waiting is something Daigle's never experienced before.
"Watching the game, you get nervous a little bit because every play that gets close to the net and the goalie gets bumped a little bit, you're like 'OK, is that the time?' But it's good. I don't want anyone to get hurt. For the game, I'm kind of a fan and a member of the organization. If it happens, I'll make sure to do what I can to not look like a fool out there."
It doesn't happen very often, but when it does the story is usually fantastic. Most recently, 36-year-old accountant and rec league goalie Scott Foster entered a March 30, 2018 game for the Chicago Blackhawks after starter Anton Forsberg was hurt before the contest and Collin Delia cramped up with 14 minutes left. Foster stopped all seven shots he faced as the Hawks beat Winnipeg 6-2.
"Obviously if it happens, I don't know what my reaction would be," said Daigle. "I think I'd be shocked and just hope for the best. Obviously, I don't hope anyone gets hurt, but if the opportunity comes, I'll try to enjoy it as much as I can."
In the meantime, he will continue to concentrate on his day job, if you will, as he heads into his final season with the Griffins and works on graduating from MacEwan with a Commerce degree. Daigle's coming off the greatest season by a goaltender in program history – posting a sparkling 1.89 goals against average and .937 save percentage in 2018-19.
Things have changed on the Griffins, though, since they hoisted their third-straight Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference championship last March. Just 11 players return from the team that swept NAIT in the finals and 12 rookies will fill in the gaps. Behind the bench stands assistant coach Sean Ringrose in an interim head coach capacity with Michael Ringrose on a six-month parental leave.
As a result, the Griffins have used preseason play to gel as a unit.
"Any time you change over that many people on our roster, there's a ton of learning that goes in at the start," said Sean Ringrose. "It's new systems for half the team and it's getting used to that.
"Our leadership group's done a great job of helping those guys learn the systems and helping us teach it to them. You just take it day by day and, over the course of the year, chip away at it. It gets to be a work in progress."
Daigle has been a key leader in the process, particularly in a mentorship role to rookie backup goalie Thomas Davis. He's one of three guys, along with captain Cam Gotaas and defenceman Austin Yaremchuk, who have been here for all three of MacEwan's championships. Forward Bryan Arneson – a member of the Griffins' 2016-17 championship team and a redshirt last season – returns to the fold to add another veteran voice.
"It's a big challenge," said Daigle. "I remember first day of camp coming and not seeing those guys I won three championships with. It's different, but we've had a few opportunities to bond as a team and get a new connection going, getting comfortable with each other. It's a change, but every year you're going to become best friends with all 25 guys on the team again."
Marc-Olivier Daigle stares down Red Deer's Lynnden Pastachak during a game last season. The Griffins host RDC in their home opener on Friday night (Matthew Jacula photo).
Although rookies will play a big role on the Griffins this season, they come with a lot of talent, hockey IQ and championship experience – most notably forward Kole Gable was a member of the 2018 Western Hockey League Champion Swift Current Broncos.
"The guys that are coming in are smart players," said Ringrose. "We recruited them for a reason. So far in the preseason they've shown that and showed their ability to learn very quickly. So, it's kind of made life pretty easy for us.
"Getting guys going with school can be a challenge, but at the same time I think everyone's done a really good job staying on top of things and we're ready for the start of the season."
It will be a stern test to kick things off. Red Deer College returns most of their players from a team that pushed the Griffins to the limit in the ACAC semifinal last season. MacEwan got past them on an overtime winner in Game 3 of their best-of-three series.
After they meet Friday in Edmonton, the teams will play the rematch in Red Deer on Saturday.
"It's going to be a really tough opening weekend," said Ringrose. "They've got a lot of their team returning and they were a really good team last year. All three games went to overtime last year. They were tough fought games and I'm expecting more of the same this season.
"They're a year older and a bit more mature and they've all played together, so it's going to be a good test. We've built up a pretty good rivalry."
