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Mackenze Stewart | D/LW


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He was born deaf but with surgeries he overcame it I believe.

ooooohhhhhh. Ok, I was wondering how a deaf player could even play at such a high level already. I don't know, maybe there already has been some deaf players playing in high level leagues but it would make more sense if what you're saying is true.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know this is Botchford but here's a pretty good article on Stewart. Who knows, he could turn out to be a steal.

Mackenze Stewart’s entry on Hockey’s Future website remains a blank palette.

There is nothing under “Prospect Talent Score.” There is no estimate of his probability of success. There is no scouting report.

But that doesn’t surprise Stewart. He was as surprised as anyone he was drafted.

“It was a bit of surprise to me,” said Stewart, who was in his second year of eligibility. “I had a couple teams talk to me in the sense, ‘Maybe we’ll take a shot at you.’

“But for somebody to give me the chance, I didn’t expect it and I’m just grateful for it.”

Among the Canucks prospects at UBC this week, Stewart stands out as the most unlikely of draft picks.

A year ago, he was playing Junior A. Three years ago, he was in Junior B, and flipped around to three different teams too. And eight years ago, well, Stewart wasn’t playing hockey at all.

But that’s actually one of the reasons the Canucks took a chance, drafting Stewart, a towering, thick 6-foot-5, 240-pound defenceman, with the 186th overall pick last month.

Stewart was born deaf.

He spent much of the first 12 years of his life in hospitals, undergoing procedures. Certainly, there was more time meeting with doctors than he ever spent on the ice playing hockey.

Because that was none.

“I had a lot of surgeries that prevented me from playing contact sports,” Stewart said. “They didn’t catch on (that I was deaf) until I was in Grade 1. They thought I had a learning disability at first.

“It was a mechanical issue. I probably had 2-3 procedures a year for about six years. I was in the hospital for a long time.

“Months at a time. I was never really healthy until (I was 12).”

He could play soccer and baseball, but hockey was out. He would get his fix watching games, notably Hockey Night in Canada.

When he did start playing, it was at “the lowest of the low in terms of level,” ensuring he’s earned every inch of progress he’s taken in the seven years since. Stewart, who will turn 19 Aug. 10, has normal hearing now.

“What he’s gone through is something you don’t want to go through,” said Stan Smyl, the Canucks director of player development.“For him to get through it, battle through it, and get to where he’s at, that takes a lot of hard work and a lot of determination.

“The character he showed in that, you can see it in him. You can see it in the weight room.

“He’s determined. He’s focused.”

He’s also huge.

Having also drafted Nikita Tyramkin, a 6-foot-6, 270-pound defenceman known as the Russian Monster, Stewart was the second oak tree the Canucks took in last month’s draft.

It wasn’t a coincidence.

“What we want to do as an organization, especially with defencemen, is to have the type of D-men who are slotted in (the 5-6 spot) who are hard to play against,” Smyl said.

“You come to play against Mackenze and you’re saying, ‘I’ve got to play against this guy?’

“He makes people pay the price and that’s what we want to see in our organization.”

As Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins pointed out a couple of times this week, the prospects camp isn’t a good place to evaluate talent.

But it is a good place for players like Stewart to gauge himself in drills against the Canucks’ top prospects.

“I feel like I fit in,” Stewart said. “I feel like I can keep up, and excel past some. I know that I’m not the best in the group. But I can definitely make it there.

“You look at guys like Hunter Shinkaruk, a real quick, skilled guy, and that’s the type of player I need to be up against.

“To be able to have a guy like that push me, or others in this group, is going to help me get the next level.”

Stewart is set to go back to the Prince Albert Raiders in the WHL this fall, where he hopes this year to get more opportunity to play in the top four.

What if he could go back and tell his 12-year-old self where he is now?

“I never would have believed it,” Stewart said.

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Botchford+huge+surprise+this+giant+Canucks+prospect+here/10015829/story.html

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ooooohhhhhh. Ok, I was wondering how a deaf player could even play at such a high level already. I don't know, maybe there already has been some deaf players playing in high level leagues but it would make more sense if what you're saying is true.

Jim Kyte played almost 600 games in the NHL and he was deaf.

Steve Downie is also deaf in one ear and uses a hearing aid.

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Spoke with him yesterday for a while. A little bit about himself and then talked about Leon Draisitl

I asked him if he thinks there'll be any chance Draisitl returns to the Raiders and Mac started raving how good he was, I asked him how he compared with Bo siz/skill wise and he said LD was definitely a loy bigger and ready for the jump, real key guy in their line up (which we all know hehe)

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  • 3 months later...
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Prince Albert, SK— The Prince Albert Raiders have traded Josh Morrissey and Gage Quinney to the Kelowna Rockets for defenseman Jesse Lees, forward Austin Glover, and two WHL bantam draft picks - a 2nd round pick in 2016 and a 3rd round pick in 2017.

Hopefully this means some increased minutes for Mack. Jesse Lees is a dman, but definitely wont play the same role that Josh Morrissey did, which should mean increased minutes for the rest of the D-corps; Does anyone who watches Prince Albert frequently have any insight into how Mackenzie has been player this year?

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I'm a canuck fan but i've watched a lot of his game this season

i do have some of his full game highlights (~5) here if anyone is interested https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzeZ-n7TwcTV4vFVC4vHXj90r9HPzZ49S

He's often partnered with Brendan Guhle as a 2nd paring

he doesnt get any PP time. So whenever Raiders r on a PP, his ice time is reduced greatly but do often get PK time

Despite his size, his skating is excellent and he can catch many fast speedsters along the boards quite often (for the most part) like this one on Virtanen

NS2eLs.gif

controlling with the puck on the other hand, is very limited

He's pretty aggressive especially along the boards but he often gets beaten behind the net and i find he needs some lower body work since he often loses his balance after colliding with another

For about a month during november, he played as a 3rd checking line forward for awhile and he was pleasantly effective

i think all of his points came from playing there (at least 2G+2A. this was also the time when one of my fav fights occured vs Tanner LeShann)

Nevertheless, he's been effective ever since Raider's new coaching change and being back to the D

As far as what happens to him after JM's trade, i have no idea...

PP for Raiders has been (for the most part) Lang, Morrissey, Guhle and Andrlik. if the players they got back have any puck moving abilities, im sure they'll get a first look. so i wouldnt count on big Mac (we'll see what happens tonight)

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Scored the game winner tonight vs Swift Current. Was a +1 as well.

here was the goal

his first in something like 3 months ~35 games!

Stewart just trying to clear the puck during a PK? that fooled everyone and just went straight in..no bounce no weird deflection..straight in....prob 20 feet behind his OWN blue line nvm i thought he was closer to that but at the face off dot!!!... my god

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