Mia McGregor’s confidence grows playing for Yellowhead Chiefs

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This article was published 23/02/2024 (572 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hockey is not always about making the perfect pass, scoring multiple times or keeping the opposing team’s sniper off the scoresheet during a game.

For Yellowhead Chiefs sophomore forward Mia McGregor there’s another component that helps with her overall game since her 2022-23 rookie season.

She made this assessment as the fourth-place Chiefs began their best-of-five quarterfinal series with the fifth-place Winnipeg Avros last night in Shoal Lake.

“I think I’ve made some progress since my rookie year with the Chiefs … and have gained a lot of confidence as a person and a player which really helps my game,” she said.

Her play this season did not go unnoticed either, with an Alberta college reaching out to sign her for the 2024-25 season once she graduates this June from Waskada Collegiate, where she’s attended for the past 13 years.

It was no easy choice for McGregor to commit to the Red Deer Queens in order to continue her post-secondary hockey career.

“Choosing a university or college was very difficult. To me, Red Deer was the best of all my options. They have a great team and coach that has won many championships and the school is pretty small, which was something I was looking for as I come from a very small community,” she said.

“I was lucky enough to have a lot of options regarding universities and colleges. I had some schools I reached out to and some schools that reached out to me. Red Deer made the most sense for me so that’s where I ended up choosing.”

What sold McGregor on the Queen’s hockey program after visiting the central Alberta location?

“The Queen’s program has a lot to offer. They have a very solid group of girls right now and a great coach who has led the Queens to many league championships,” she said.

“I went to tour the polytechnic at the end of January and really liked what they had to offer. The school was a good size for me and I can easily walk the whole campus. All of the residences are nice and spacious.

“The rink and gym area are also impressive, which is important as I will be spending a lot of time there. When I toured the campus I was able to meet the coach and the team, which helped me make my decision.”

When she’s not practicing or playing hockey, McGregor will be majoring in the school’s biological sciences program. While still mulling over what she wants to pursue as a career, she is interested in animal rehabilitation and habitat restoration.

Born in Brandon, McGregor’s move to the Chiefs’ program was understandably hard initially after Wildcats tryouts. The extra kilometres driving to Shoal Lake for games and practices was no problem, as she’s always been used to driving distances during the winter hockey season.

Why? After her U15 AAA season with the Westman Wildcats, she moved on to U18 AAA and played her rookie year for the U18 AAA Westman Wildcats, a team which won the Manitoba Female Hockey League title during her 2021-22 season. A second season with the Wildcats did not materialize, so she looked north on Hwy 21 to the Chiefs program.

“Even though they were all super nice and welcoming, they were my rivals growing up in the Westman region so it was hard to play on their side,” she said. “Now I love playing with the Chiefs and I am so glad I got the opportunity. The Chiefs program has helped me in so many ways even though it was hard at the beginning. I will be forever grateful that I got to wear the Chiefs logo.”

While her birth place is Brandon, McGregor grew up on a farm between Waskada and Melita. She was age four when she played for the co-ed U6 Pierson Waskada Canucks.

What drew McGregor to lace on skates and play minor hockey?

“Since I was so young when I started playing hockey I do not remember the exact reason I decided to start playing,” she recalled. “My older brother played hockey when he was younger, so I was partly influenced by him and I was also pushed towards hockey rather than other sports because my dad played when he was growing up.”

Hockey is not her only sport. At Waskada Collegiate, she also plays volleyball, badminton and does track and field.

“I also enjoy skiing as my family often goes on ski trips to the Rocky Mountains,” she said. “I also did karate and dance when I was younger. I played softball for one year in 2019 and my team won the league.”

Looking back on her minor hockey career, McGregor has fond memories which have brought her to her current role playing for the Chiefs.

From U6 to U9, McGregor played for the Canucks. Then when numbers dropped, she shifted to Deloraine to skate on a U9 team. She also played on a girls team in Boissevain in 2014-15 and won her first provincial medal. She also played on a co-ed team during her atom years in Deloraine and was also on a female roster during 2016-17 which won gold at provincials.

It was not until her peewee season when McGregor switched from co-ed to an all-girls team.

“I played for the Antler River Stars/Southwest Stars out of Deloraine for four years, two years of peewee and two years of bantam, but my second bantam year got cut short due to COVID,” she recalled.

“During those four years of female hockey, I won two gold provincial medals and one bronze. During my bantam years I also double rostered with the bantam AAA Westman Wildcats.”

With many practices and games in between, McGregor concedes her hockey IQ has improved, and she plays with confidence and smarts.

“I can easily read plays before they happen and I am able to use that to my advantage. I also know when to pass and when not to as well as what plays to do and how to execute them properly,” she said.

“I am also a good size for hockey and use my size to protect the puck and be strong in front of the net. I think for an opposing team to keep me from scoring they just need to confuse me and take away my options. I have a good shot, but if they don’t allow a shooting lane it is pretty hard to score.”

Standing five-foot-seven, the right-handed shooter recorded 12 goals and 10 assists in her sophomore season after 28 games. For playing tough in front of the net, or along the wall, she only received three minor penalties. Overall, this season, in 36 games for the Chiefs, she had 11 goals and 21 points.

In her rookie campaign with the Chiefs in 28 games, she had nine goals and six assists.

If there’s a weakness in her game, McGregor is quick to answer without hesitation.

“Lately, in practice, I have been working on one-on-ones and being creative. This will help me get better scoring chances in games. I am also trying to keep my feet moving to have quick stops and starts.”

Looking at the recruiting process for girls playing U18 AAA, McGregor acknowledged players both promote themselves to schools by sharing video clips and providing statistics. But there are also scouts at arenas watching players up close on the ice, how they play with and without the puck.

McGregor is not sure when Queens head coach Kelly Coulter discovered her and started showing an interest in adding the Manitoban to his Alberta team.

“(Kelly) reached out to me mid-November last year and we talked a lot about the school and program since then. I went for a campus visit at the end of January which helped me decide to go there,” she said. “Red Deer is not very close to home … 12-hour drive, but I think it is in a great location. I have family in Alberta and I know lots of people from my area that moved out there.

“It is also easy for my parents to fly to Calgary or Edmonton to come and watch some of my games. The hockey and schooling is what drove me to Red Deer. It is a small school that offers the program I am interested and the Queens have a great reputation and setup (for hockey).”

With the move west to Alberta, McGregor knows this summer will be busy when it comes to training.

“I plan to work out all summer and stay on the ice as much as I can,” she said. “I am lucky enough to have rinks open in my area during the summer and there are some girls on my current team I am planning to skate and work out with which will make it more fun.”

Looking back on her regular season, with the playoffs now in front of her, there is one memory which McGregor sees on an imaginary reel and won’t soon forget.

“Like many of my teammates, my favourite on-ice memory was when we beat the Winnipeg Ice in their home rink in OT. I was on the ice when (teammate) Hannah Reagh scored and it was electric. She scored right off the first draw after we both fell on top of the two Ice forwards.

“All of the defence were caught off guard and Hannah picked up the puck and skated right past the Ice defence and put the puck in the back of the net. I have never seen her jump so high. We were all so happy with the win and from that point on we knew we could beat the Ice.”

While McGregor is not superstitious when it comes to hockey like some of her teammates, she does have one quirk which happens in the dressing room.

“I always put my right skate on first, but tie the left before the right,” she said.

Pre-game meals are another ritual McGregor sticks to, but unlike her teammates, she’s not having eggs, chicken or pasta.

“I am always trying to eat healthy, especially the day before and the day of a game,” she explained. “My pregame meal is often eaten in the car as most games are two or more hours away so I usually end up eating some type of salad or a light meal containing vegetables.”

And like most young female hockey players, like their male counterparts, McGregor has her favourite NHL teams — Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers — but there’s one player in the PWHL she avidly follows their on-ice exploits for Ottawa, and who once played in the Westman Wildcats program like her.

“I’ve always looked up to Ashton Bell as a pro hockey player because she grew up in Deloraine which is pretty close to where I live and she proves that great players can grow up in small towns,” she said. “I always enjoy watching her play whether it was for Team Canada or in the PWHL.”

After Thursday night’s home game, the Chiefs are on the road Saturday when they will play the Avros at Seven Oaks Arena. Game 3 is on Feb. 27 back in Shoal Lake, followed by games if needed with another road trip to the Avros’ home arena for Game 4 on Feb. 29, then back in Shoal Lake if the series goes to Game 5 on March 2. Puck drop in all games in the series is 7:30 p.m.

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