As a peewee Jeff MacPhee was a forward but today he's a big man that brings valuable veteran experience to the Eagles' blue-line.
“I do think that being my fourth year in the league I can add some leadership and a physical presence to the back end,” said MacPhee.
Born in St. Albert, the 30-year-old defenceman grew up in Calgary where he began playing hockey at a very young age.
His formative years were spent playing midget AAA hockey in Calgary, before moving on to the Alberta Junior Hockey League, where he spent three seasons.
MacPhee received a scholarship and played in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in New York for several years. He also played in the minors for a couple of seasons before he headed to Europe to play in the German Elite league for one year.
Until his peewee days, he always played the position of forward.
“My dad was the coach and we needed a defenceman so he converted me,” said MacPhee. “Ever since then I've played defence.”
Now at 6 feet 2 inches tall, MacPhee has been a solid presence on the blue-line throughout his four-year career with the Eagles.
He pointed out some of the qualities of a good defenceman and some of his strengths and skill he adds to the team.
“(A good defenceman) is a player that's mobile, can skate well, sees the ice, and can make that good, strong first pass, but can skate with it if the opportunity arises to skate up, cross the blue-line and make that play,” explained MacPhee. “I feel like I'm a big body. My whole career I've worked hard on being a strong defensive defenceman and not too concerned with getting points,” he added.
MacPhee knows his role on the ice and sticks to it.
“I focus on taking care of our defensive zone, playing physical and getting the puck out of our end,” he said, noting that while with the Eagles, he has not had a steady pairing or partner on the blue-line.
“With this league it's hard because the lineups are rarely the same,” said MacPhee, noting some good chemistry he had with a couple of former Eagles. “In my first year, it was Brody Malek; we played together a lot (for two seasons). I played some minor pro with Brody as well. We were similar players so we knew where each other was going to be on the ice.”
Over the past four seasons, MacPhee has learned much from head coach Brian Sutter, and credits him with helping him improve his game.
“It's been a really neat experience playing for Brian. He's really good at reading players and figuring out what players' strengths are,” said MacPhee. “It's been fun learning from him and his coaching philosophies. It certainly makes you a better player.”
Meanwhile, the Innisfail Eagles were finally able to get the monkey off their backs on Nov. 27 when it came to solving the Stony Plain Eagles. The Birds beat Stony Plain with a 6-5 victory at home Friday night.
Stony Plain has defeated Innisfail in all three previous meetings this season. In their fourth match up, Innisfail got on the boards early with a power play marker in the first period from Robbie Smith, who netted a hat trick in the 6-5 win. The teams battled back and forth in the first with Stony Plain taking the lead twice, but Innisfail did not give up. Chad Ziegler scored for Innisfail late in the frame and got the Eagles back on the boards.
The game was tied at three after 20 minutes. The Eagles took a 5-3 lead thanks to goals from Smith and Pete Vandermeer. Early in the third period Stony Plain tied up the game at five a piece, but just over two minutes later, newcomer Greg Moore scored an unassisted goal, that turned out to be the game winner.
The Eagles' next home game isn't until after the holidays, on Jan. 15 against the Fort Saskatchewan Chiefs.
Jeff MacPhee
"I feel like I'm a big body. My whole career I've worked hard on being a strong defensive defenceman and not too concerned with getting points."
