Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – After scoring the first goal of the season for the MacEwan Griffins men's hockey team last Friday, Curtis Roach set the tone for the team's first victory of the Canada West season.

When that Sept. 30 night was done, he added two assists and finished with a +4 rating, which set a new program record for the best single game plus/minus in a Canada West contest.

"I didn't realize that was actually a record," said Roach of a game that led to a 7-5 win for MacEwan. "That's awesome. I think we were just moving the puck around really well that night. We obviously scored some well-timed five-on-five goals, and we got one at the end there just to put things away. 

"That's awesome, that's a good statistic."

It's one that demonstrates his incredible value to the Griffins in his final university season. The veteran defenceman is equally adept at putting the puck in the net as he is at keeping it out.

"The expectations are high for him," said interim head coach Zack Dailey. "He's proven last year that he can be effective at this level, not only in terms of offence, but playing great defence, being hard to play against and making the right plays. 

"We're super happy with his weekend. He's a leader on this team. We need him to help out some of the young D and teach them the ropes and lead by example in terms of what it takes to be successful with your commitment and your effort. He's been doing a great job."

Roach will lead MacEwan (1-1-0) into weekend action against cross-town rival Alberta (2-0-0) on Friday (7 p.m., Clare Drake Arena) and Saturday (5 p.m., Downtown Community Arena, both Canada West TV).

"He works hard, so with his effort and level of play, he can keep up at this level," said Dailey. "He's a good skater, he's in good shape, he's taking care of his body and nutrition. 

"Then just his creativity and confidence with the puck is something that helps him stand out as well. He makes very good plays with the puck. If he messes up a play, he learns from it and moves on, maintaining a high level of confidence, which I think is key at this level to being successful."

Curtis Roach flies through the air after deking out Regina goaltender Curtis Meger for MacEwan's first goal of the season on Sept. 30 (Joel Kingston photo).

The fourth-year Saskatoon product, initially came to Edmonton as a recruit of the NAIT Ooks, battling against the Griffins in ACAC action during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. Even though NAIT and MacEwan no longer compete at the same level against each other, their rivalry battles in the ACAC Championship final were legendary as the Griffins beat them three years in a row for the title (2017-19). 

So, no doubt there was some awkwardness when Roach transferred to the Griffins ahead of their inaugural Canada West season as a new teammate of several players he voraciously competed against.

"I definitely had to apologize for some of the things I said in the past, but that's dirt under the rug," said Roach, who was one of three former NAIT defencemen the Griffins had last season, along with Jordan Davies and Brett Magee. "We're teammates now. I look forward to battling with the group of guys that we have the rest of the season."

Perhaps the greatest testament about Roach came when coaches were asking some of the Griffins what it would be like to have him as a teammate when he was previously one of their greatest foes.

"I know I just asked some of those guys if it was weird having someone you just competed against for a championship on your team and guys said 'no, they're excited to have him because he was a really good player and was hard to play against,' " said Dailey.

"He's definitely someone you'd rather have on your team than against you."

For all the positives by Roach and his teammates out of an opening-weekend split vs. Regina, there were some things to improve upon, most notably the penalty kill, which allowed seven goals against in two games.

"We've spent some time cleaning some stuff up where there was maybe some confusion or just wasn't executed properly," said Dailey. "In the end, we're close. We don't need to blow anything up or make huge changes. It's just a fine-tuning and getting a few more blocks and a few more clears."