The London Knights tend to stand out.
If you need proof, just put on a Knights hat or something with a Knights logo on it and get on a plane or a boat, or just go for a long drive. You’ll be amazed at how many people you meet make mention of it.
Colin MacDonald has always stood out as well.
At 6’3, he’s often the tallest guy in the grocery line, but he has always risen to the top on teams and in the classroom.
It seems only fitting that the Londoner would eventually find his way to the London Knights organization.
MacDonald is the team’s new assistant general manager.
He spent his entire OHL career battling against the Knights and their logo as a member and eventually captain of the Plymouth Whalers from 2009 to 2013. He played in one of the classic playoff series between the teams that saw the Knights beat the Whalers in five games that felt more like eight or nine games and advance to the OHL Championship series for the second year in a row.
“The thing I remember about the Knights is just how good they were every single season,” he said. “Going in and facing them was always something I looked forward to being a hometown kid, so It’s definitely nice being a part of the organization now.”
Still, MacDonald helped Plymouth to stay among the top teams each year he was with them. The Whalers won their division twice in that time and advanced to at least the second round of the playoffs. But even through that success, MacDonald admits he was beginning to look to what might come after his hockey career.
“I’ve always been the person that kind of looked forward into the future and what might happen,” he said. “While playing hockey your end goal is to play professionally, but I was always someone who focused on school and did well in school and having the school package from the Ontario Hockey League was something that I definitely wanted to put into use once I had finished my playing career. I can’t say enough about how well the OHL treated me.”
MacDonald enrolled at Western University and set his sights on the Ivey School of Business. He played hockey for the Mustangs as well and he says all of that rolled together was a very important learning experience for him.
“It takes a lot of time management, organization skills and it takes a lot of people believing in you… Being able to manage my time with playing at Western and achieving the grades needed to get into Ivey has really prepared me well for this role with the Knights.”
That role will include just about everything there is to do within hockey, from organization road trip schedules to scouting future prospects. MacDonald says he has missed some of the older arenas he got to go to when he played his minor hockey with the London Jr. Knights.
“I’m looking forward to getting out there and seeing the talent that will be coming through the league in the next couple of years. I definitely miss going to the old, tiny arenas and watching hockey, so having that opportunity with the Knights to go out there and try to find that diamond in the rough is something I’m looking forward to and I think it will be one of the better parts of the job.”
If his track record is any indication, it is a job MacDonald will do very well.
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