After shutting down the Moose in Game 7 of the North Division Final with the Grand Rapids Griffins, 23-year-old goaltender Drew MacIntyre was signed by the Vancouver Canucks in the off-season. Since the pre-season, MacIntyre has been stopping pucks for the Manitoba Moose and enjoying support from the "awesome" fans in Winnipeg.
Click here to listen to the Drew MacIntyre interview, or read the transcript below. Visit Moosehockey.com again soon for the next Ask-a-Moose feature!
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Uncle Drew, when did you know you wanted to become a goalie? Nicholas, Quinton, and Zachary – Dowling
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They’re my nephews. When did I know? I knew a long, long time ago. Their Grampy, my Dad, was a goalie and he grew up in a big family. We always watched him in Oldtimers’ and from Day 1, from Novice, I wanted to be a goalie.
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Hey Drew, who did you admire while growing up that had a significant impact on your goaltending today? YiFan – Rochester, NY
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My favourite goalie growing up was Andy Moog, but the biggest impact was probably my Dad and my parents, and also a fellow named Alan Andrews who I worked for since I was 12 and who I still work for. He runs a hockey school in the summer. A bit of each of them, and along with my goalie coach that I had in Junior, Stephane Waite.
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What do you do in the off-season to stay in shape? Andre – Winnipeg, MB
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I’ve gotten a lot into yoga the last couple summers, and I do that in the summers. But my biggest thing is training. Actually, that’s how I met my wife, is through my trainer, Dave Flanagan. His wife kinda introduced me to my wife—they’re sisters. We do all sorts of stuff. I do a lot of biking, like stationary biking. Besides going on the ice and working out, I’d say my biggest thing is yoga.
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How often do you hit the ice in the off-season?
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Once July comes, or the middle of July (last year we played pretty long) . . . July something, maybe two or three times a week. Once it gets closer, around the middle of August I was on all the time.
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What is the most memorable moment in your hockey career? Brett – Winnipeg, MB
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I haven’t had the pleasure of being on too many winning teams, so . . . Last year was pretty cool, not just with Grand Rapids but with Toledo in the East Coast league. Getting a chance to play with both teams in the playoffs, that was a pretty cool experience that I don’t think many people have had a chance to experience. I cherish that; it was cool to travel back and forth and play with both teams.
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What’s the ultimate ‘Pump Up’ song for you before a game? Nathan - Winnipeg, MB
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Oh, jeepers. I don’t know how to narrow it down to one song. I listen to my iPod, and I have a bit of everything. I’m one of the weird ones in that I listen to a lot of rap, and I listen to basically everything . . . Except, I don’t really listen to country before a game. But I really don’t know how I can narrow it down to one, I have so many.
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Hey Drew, welcome to Winnipeg. As a goalie, do you have any unique superstitions or habits to get yourself ready for a game? Ada – Winnipeg, MB
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I’d say my only superstition is not to talk about my superstitions. (Laughs) No, I have a few. I’m a goalie so obviously I have a few weird things that I do, but I don’t know how I could tell you that though. (Laughs) You might think I’m pretty weird.
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What was going through your mind when Greg Ireland decided to pull Jimmy Howard and put you in net in Game 7 of the North Division Final last May against the Moose? At the time, did you think your teammates could score four straight goals for the win? Matt – New Zealand
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You know what, to be honest, I did, because that team did it so many times during the year. The firepower that they have is just unbelievable, and if anybody could do it, they could do it. And I really didn’t have much to do with that. I was basically just in the net, and had one or two shots I think. It was pretty cool to be a part of though. I definitely did think that they could.
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What was going through your mind when you were put on the ice? Or did you just do it?
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Yeah, Game 7, that’s getting thrown in there. There was really nothing to lose because we were behind by, what was it, three goals or whatever. My biggest thing was just take it shot by shot, and I really wasn’t thinking too much. There’s obviously a little bit of pressure on you, but at the same time, we were already losing by three goals.
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What was your reaction when you heard you had been traded to Vancouver? Anonymous
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I was very, very thankful for the opportunity. I talked to Detroit at the end of the season and they told me that I was going to be the odd man out, and that’s great because I wanted to kinda move on. There’s just a logjam in goal there—there’s just a lot of goalies. They liked how I handled the situation last year so they said basically I could act like a free agent, so if somebody wants me, they could basically have me.
I think I have a lot of people to prove wrong because my phone wasn’t ringing that much. But Vancouver and Zinger thought it would be a good situation for me, and I was just very thankful for the chance.
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And coming off a long series with Manitoba, you were pretty familiar with our organization and everything, so how did you feel about coming to the Moose?
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That’s a pretty huge bonus. You know, it’s well known that this is one of the top one or two places to play in the League. Again, I’m just very thankful to be here.
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Greetings from Grand Rapids Drew! We were sad to see you go, but Amy and I are happy that you are with an organization that appreciates your talent. What aspects of your game do you think have improved since you left to “head up there”? Brian – Grand Rapids, MI
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Well, I just got to see them this past weekend in Grand Rapids, and that’s a really good question. I think I’m getting better a lot, and especially with getting a chance to play. Me and Rick St. Croix work on a lot of stuff. It’s tough to say what I think I’m getting better at so far . . . Just technically I’m trying to get better. I know Brian’s an old goalie so he knows what I’m saying. Just technically I’m trying to get better and better.
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Hey Drew. First off, I want to say Welcome to Winnipeg and the Moose. How well have fans been treating you here? And how does Manitoba compare to Grand Rapids? Kassy – Winnipeg, MB
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Well, thank you Kassy. Fans have been very . . . you know, they’ve been awesome. This is Winnipeg, this is Canada, this is a hockey town. You can feel it when you’re here that this is a great place to play, and obviously, it would be a lot nicer of we get some more wins. I’m confident that we’re going to do so, and I think the fans will treat us a lot better when we do so.
But compared to Grand Rapids, the fans there are really good but here they’re definitely more consistent. There, you’ll have some big nights but then you’ll have some nights where it’s pretty bad—you know, not many fans. But there’s still great fans there, and I appreciated my time there. There’s some great people, but no, I don’t think it can compare to this because it’s Canada, it’s Winnipeg.
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Hi Drew, my question is, who is your roomie on the road and have you played any pranks on eachother that you can mention here? Welcome to the Moose! Anita – Winnipeg, MB
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My roommate’s Prestin Ryan. (Just gotta look and see if he’s here.) Mostly we’re just razzing eachother on a permanent basis. But we haven’t got to that level yet where there’s been pranks. But give us a little time. Ask me in another month or two.
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What has it been like splitting time with veteran Wade Flaherty? Does he give you tips? Matt – New Zealand
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It’s been a huge added bonus. Whenever I knew this trade was close to happening, there was a chance that he was going to stay in Vancouver, but there was also a chance that he was going to be here. I was pretty excited for that opportunity. I know he’s if not the best, one of the best goalies in the League. I knew that I’d still get a chance to play and to play with a guy like that, I’ve already learned a few things. Nothing major, but a lot of little things that can be pretty major when you add them all up. It’s pretty cool playing with him.
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