Mackenzie Blackwood and Taylor Makar apparently spent part of the offseason sharing the ice in Ontario, and the story behind how anyone even found out is the kind of random hockey tale that sticks with you.
The Colorado Avalanche goaltender and forward were seen practicing together at Scotiabank Pond in North York, Ontario, just outside Toronto, according to Elliotte Friedman on a recent episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast. Friedman wasn’t at the rink himself. Instead, he relayed the account of a man from his local gym who happened to stumble across the two during a private session.
That man, who Friedman said is in his 70s and plays pickup hockey weekly, noticed a group of players working out while he was there for his own game. He stopped to watch, and one thing jumped out immediately: the goalie.
“There’s a gentleman from my gym, he’s in his 70s, and he plays pickup hockey there weekly. And he said that he was there for his game, and he walked by one of the other rinks, and there were some players practicing.
And he said, ‘holy cow, these guys are really good.’ He watched them practice for a little bit, and it was a goalie, and he said the goalie was unbelievable.
He was giving the shooters no room. But some of those guys could really wire the puck, and they were finding room.
He’s like, ‘I can’t believe how good these players are.’ So their practice ended, and they went into the room, and he’s like, you know, I’m gonna go in there, and I’m gonna ask them who they are.
“So you could imagine how this could go. It’s only going one of two ways.
Either ‘hey yeah, come on in, we’ll talk’ or ‘get out. Weirdo,’ like there’s no middle ground.
So he goes in, and he’s like, ‘guys I was watching your practice, you guys are unbelievable can I ask who you are?’ And he said the two guys that identified themselves were Mackenzie Blackwood and Taylor Makar.
He just said ‘I was mesmerized watching you guys practice.’ He said they were really flattered and really nice.”
The sighting lines up with what’s already happening around the Avalanche this offseason. Several of the team’s veterans have already returned to Denver for informal skates at Family Sports, and Blackwood and Makar are expected to make their way there soon as well. For now, though, the pair has already logged at least one workout together on the ice, and maybe more.
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