SANDY, UT — It’s not easy coming down from the high that a Stanley Cup Playoffs game brings.
MacKenzie Weegar knows that well by now. Whether you’ve played your first, or — as was the case for Weegar Friday night — your 23rd post-season matchup, every contest brings a buzz that lingers well beyond the final game horn.
On Friday night in Salt Lake City, that buzz was more like a roar as the Utah Mammoth defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in the franchise’s first-ever home playoff game to take a 2-1 series lead.
“It’s a big moment. There’s so much going on out there, the crowd and the electricity — after the game, you are buzzing still. It’s tough to kind of wind down,” Weegar said Sunday following the team’s practice, energy levels back to baseline. “I know a lot of guys, especially even just in the (regular season), it’s hard to kind of relax after a game — and after a playoff game, you’re kind of still ready to go. You could probably play three more periods after that.”
Weegar’s wind-down formula usually involves a stint in the sauna or the steam room, a quiet moment to cool down — mentally, at least. Sometimes, it’s time on the bike. Others, a beer is in order, just to take the edge off a bit.
“When I get home, I get right into bed pretty quick and try to shut it off,” he said.
Tough as it may be to sleep at times, that post-game feeling doesn’t get old.
“That buzz is so fun, it’s such a great feeling. That’s what it’s all about for me, just getting that feeling,” he said. “It’s almost like a runner’s high after, you know what I mean? You just feel good — especially after a win, obviously.”
After three seasons without playoff hockey, Weegar is relishing being back on the game’s biggest stage. Three games into this first-round series with the Mammoth, it shows.
On a team driven offensively by its young core of forwards, Weegar is tied for the team lead in goals (two) and points (three). Friday’s marker was the first goal scored by a Utah player at home in the playoffs — a feat he’s pumped about, though you won’t catch him admiring his work. There’s more to be done; reflection is for the off-season, hopefully still a long way off.
That post-season exhilaration shows on his face, too. Not just in the smile that breaks out when he’s talking hockey in the dressing room in late April, but in the cut above his left eye — the battle wound a gift from an old pal, Rasmus Andersson. As teammates in Calgary, they brought out the best in one another — their season as defence partners saw Weegar hit career-highs offensively. As playoff foes in the first round, they’re forcing one another to be at their best on opposite sides of one of the most entertaining first-round series this spring.
Just as Andersson has been a driver in Vegas since landing in Sin City in January, Weegar has been everything the Mammoth have needed him to be since they acquired him from Calgary days before the trade deadline in March.
“I mean, whenever a team goes out of their way to pull off a trade like that, it’s a confidence booster. It feels good,” said Weegar, who waived his no-trade clause to facilitate the deal that saw three second-round picks, defenceman Olli Maatta and prospect Jonathan Castagna sent to Calgary in the return.
“Joining this team, at first you’re a little nervous about what the team’s going to be like and how you’re going to fit in. It’s just been seamless so far,” he said.
His top-pairing defence partner, Mikhail Sergachev, agrees.
“Obviously, one of the best guys off the ice, but on the ice he’s got just so many tools that he can use — to produce, to defend,” Sergachev said of Weegar. “He’s a big body. He can hit, he can take hits, and he’s a warrior. He goes on the ice and takes hits to make plays, blocks a lot of shots. He’s just what you want to see from your teammate. It’s awesome.
“He fit in really well with the group. Obviously, we’ve got a young group,” Sergachev said, then added with a smile, “but he’s not that old yet.”
Like his D-partner, Weegar’s coach is quick with the praise, too.
Mammoth head coach André Tourigny has loved what he’s seen from Weegar and the rest of his veteran defensive group and the invaluable experience they bring. In addition to Weegar’s 23 games’ worth of post-season experience, Utah’s blue line boasts a trio of Stanley Cup champs in Sergachev, Nate Schmidt and Ian Cole.
That experience, learned Tourigny, doesn’t always mean what you’d expect.
Tourigny shared a conversation he had earlier in the year with assistant coach John Madden. Madden, a three-time Stanley Cup champion as a player — he won it twice in New Jersey in 2000 and 2003, and again in 2010 with the Blackhawks — is now the architect of Utah’s impressive penalty kill. The coaches, explained Tourigny on Sunday, were talking about the excitement and the stress that come with post-season hockey.
“We were assuming, later in (Madden’s) career — his third Stanley Cup — the stress was not as high, that he was not as excited, and so on. And he said, ‘No, it’s the reverse.’ He said, ‘Later on, I knew how hard it was,’” said Tourigny. Madden told him that earlier in his career, he didn’t think as much about the consequences.
Tourigny applies that perspective now to the members of his blue line, who have both anchored the Mammoth defensively and launched them offensively when opportunity strikes.
“Those guys have a lot of experience and they see the moment. They know how big is the moment, and how hard it is to get there,” said Tourigny. “So, they want to put their best foot forward, and so far, they embrace it. They give us a great push.”
Weegar credits his teammates for his own personal success so far in his Utah tenure — in his eyes, any individual accomplishment is merely a testament to his teammates and how comfortable he is on this squad.
“This is why I came here, is for the opportunity to play, and I just want to kind of seize the moment and contribute as much as I can,” he said. “The leadership in this room has made me feel comfortable in playing how I am.”