Sunday, February 17, 2002
Germany, MacKay's ticket to the Olympics
By KIRK PENTON -- Winnipeg Sun
Mark MacKay has been asked some tough questions at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
As a Canadian citizen playing for the German men's hockey team, the 37-year-old Winnipeg native finds himself in a unique situation. Inquiring minds want to know how he feels going into Germany's game tonight against Canada.
"The question I get asked of me a lot is 'As a Canadian playing in Germany, how do you feel and do you feel like a traitor?' " MacKay said yesterday from Salt Lake City. "You know what? I'm just so happy to play at this level and I think in Canada I never would have had the opportunity to play at this level that I'm playing at right now.
"I'm just proud to be out there and just the opportunity to skate alongside (Mario) Lemieux and (Joe) Sakic and these types of players is incredible."
MacKay, who has played professionally in Germany since 1985, was born in Brandon and his family moved to Winnipeg when he was five. He grew up in Windsor Park and eventually played for the St. Boniface Saints in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. Then he went on to play for two years with the University of Manitoba Bisons, which was coached at the time by Team Canada associate coach Wayne Fleming.
MacKay moved to Moose Jaw, Sask., when he was 20 years old and played one season for the Warriors of the Western Hockey League.
FUN CAREER
"Right after that, I said I'd go to Germany for a couple of years and here I am, 17 years later, still here," said MacKay, who still spends his summers in Winnipeg. "It's been a fun career. I've been very fortunate, that's for sure."
He is eligible to play for Germany because foreigners in that country can get a passport after living there for 10 years. MacKay got his in 1995, just in time to compete in the World Cup against Wayne Gretzky and the rest of Team Canada, which is the only other time he has played against the best players in the world.
MacKay takes pride in the resurgence of the German hockey team, which had fallen to the B pool on the international scene just three years ago. The Germans weren't supposed to be in the final round, but they upset heavily favoured Slovakia 3-0 in the first game of preliminary play, cruised to a 3-0 record and gained a berth with the big boys.
The Germans took one on the chin in their final-round opener Friday night when the Czech Republic trounced them 8-2. The Canadians, who will be looking to prove a point after a 5-2 loss to Sweden on Friday, could very well do the same to them tonight.
Nonetheless, the veteran MacKay and his wide-eyed younger teammates are going to soak up as much of the experience as they can.
"We're just happy," he said. "We're happy to be involved right now and for our younger guys, it's just an incredible dream for them.
"It kind of puts a nice cap on my international career as well."
2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
