Stu Cowan: Blair Mackasey comes out of retirement to help Team Canada

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Blair Mackasey happily retired last year after a long hockey career.

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Asked this week what he misses about being an NHL scout, the 66-year-old Beaconsfield resident laughed: “Nothing.”

“It’s 35 years of getting on and off planes, buses, cars and whatever… it was just timing,” said Mackasey, who spent the last three seasons as a professional scouting player for the Toronto Maple Leafs. “It comes to you after a while, the travel and everything else that comes with it and the game has changed. COVID just beefed things up and I said this is it… time to move on. You know when the time is.

But Mackasey did not remain retired for long. After spending much of last summer on the golf course and then traveling with his wife, Debbie, to visit their sons Blair Jr. and David, who live in London, England, and their grandchildren, Mackasey returned home in October. and received a call. from Tom Renney, the CEO of Hockey Canada.

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At the time, NHL players were expected to play in the Beijing Olympics in February, but with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing, there was a chance that plan could change. Renney asked Mackasey if he would be interested in helping to field Team Canada for the Channel One Cup in Russia and the Spengler Cup in Switzerland, both tournaments scheduled for December.

The idea was that both tournaments would also be used to test players for the Olympics if the NHL decided not to go. Team Canada posted a 1-2 record in the Channel One Cup and the Spengler Cup has been canceled due to COVID-19. The pandemic also forced the NHL to pull out of the Olympics due to scheduling issues with so many games being postponed.

On Friday, Hockey Canada made it official that Mackasey will be the director of player personnel for Team Canada at the Olympics, while Shane Doan will be the general manager and Claude Julien the head coach.

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Mackasey is highly respected in the hockey world. He coached the Lac St. Louis Lions to the national midget championship in 1992 before moving up to the QMJHL coaching the Granby Bisons for one season and then the Drummondville Voltigeurs for two years.

Mackasey then spent six years as a scout for the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes before joining Hockey Canada, where he was chief scout and then director of player personnel, responsible for evaluating and selecting players for the junior and junior national teams. -18. During his time with Hockey Canada from 2002 to 2006, Mackasey put together teams that won two gold and two silver medals at the junior world championships.

After winning a second consecutive gold medal at the 2006 junior worlds, the Minnesota Wild hired Mackasey as their director of professional scouting. After 12 years in Minnesota, the Maple Leafs signed Mackasey.

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Mackasey was also one of the people Canadiens owner/chairman Geoff Molson interviewed in 2012 for the vacant GM job, which eventually went to Marc Bergevin.

As an NHL scout, Mackasey said he watches about 150 games each season and recalls a year in which he had 186 flights. He would also be away from home for an extended time over the Christmas break while scouting for the junior world tournament and again every May for the world championships. He noted that exploration can be a real grind and it’s also a lonely life because explorers travel alone.

“It was a great job, but it’s not for everyone,” Mackasey said. “What really excited me (about the new Hockey Canada job) is that it’s the kind of thing I like to do, build teams. It was something I did with the juniors of the world many years ago. It’s always interesting to try to build a team and put all the pieces in the right place. So I said I would. The moment, the challenge, the international competition, everything attracted me. And you know there is a beginning and an end.

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“In a way, I felt like it was time to give back (to Hockey Canada) as well,” he added.

Mackasey has been busy since October scouting players, including a two-week trip to Germany and Sweden. Team Canada’s Olympic roster will be announced before the end of this month and the tournament is scheduled to start on February 9 and end on February 20. Mackasey said the Canada team will be a mix of players from youth ranks, college hockey, the AHL and European professional leagues.

Despite the risk of COVID-19, Mackasey said every player he has spoken to couldn’t wait for the opportunity to go to the Olympics. This will be Mackasey’s first time attending the Olympics and he’s excited too.

“I mean, who wouldn’t want to go to the Olympics if they had the chance,” he said. “It’s a bucket list item for a lot of people.”

It will also be a good way for Mackasey to finish his hockey career before retiring.

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