By Chase Ruttig
After leading the Yorkton Terriers to the 2012/13 SJHL Championship on the way to Co-MVP honours in the finals, Prince Albert born goaltender Dawson MacAuley attracted the radar of the Regina Pats who traded for his rights to be one of the workhorses in between the pipes during the 2013/14 WHL season. Getting a chance at a full season with the Pats, MacAuley helped get the Pats into the playoffs before falling out of favour during the preseason in the Queen City.
That led to MacAuley coming back to the city where he had his biggest successes at the Junior A level, returning to start in goal for the Yorkton Terriers for his final Junior season. Head coach Trent Cassan immediately flung MacAuley into the starting position during the defending back to back SJHL champions season openers against the Weyburn Red Wings where the new 20 year old netminder picked up where he left off when he last played for the Terriers. Two solid performances in between the pipes against the Red Wings gave Yorkton two straight wins to start the season, showing that even with a relatively all new blueline and plenty of new faces that the Terriers will be in the hunt for another championship with one of the likely top Junior A goaltenders this season.
Suddenly going from what MacAuley had hoped was a final season in the WHL, the former Pats and now returning starter to the Terriers had high hopes when talking about his return to the SJHL with the Terriers. After two games MacAuley mentioned that he felt comfortable diving right into the somewhat difficult situation of going to a new team right after the WHL training camp thanks to his familiarity with Trent Cassan's defensive systems. Talking about the similar concepts from his first stint in Yorkton, MacAuley sounded excited about the potential of the defence in front of him.
"I actually felt really comfortable playing this weekend even if there were a lot of new teammates that weren't here when I was the season before last year," mentions MacAuley. "A lot of the same defensive concepts and principles are still being used so it was an easy transition to come from the Pats training camp to the new start with the Terriers."
MacAuley also had praise for the blueline and forwards playing in front of him, showing some high expectations early in the season as the goaltender had plenty of positives after racking up back to back victories in which the Terriers conceded two goals apiece in both games. Keeping chances low to help MacAuley keep as many goals out of the net as possible pleasing the new starting goalie after the first two games of the season.
"I was really impressed with how well we played right off the start of the season and I think that our first two games showed that this team has a lot to build on. The defence played hard and we have a lot of firepower up front so this team has a good balance that has me excited for the season because so far it looks like we are going to be in the mix all season.
"We have an extremely hard working team and you can see guys are working hard on every shift which is something that I am pretty happy with because you always want to be on a team that is working hard to accomplish as much as possible."
The return of MacAuley comes at the hands of a respectable full season in the WHL for the former Canalta Cup Finals Co-MVP who raised his profile with the Terriers to earn the job with the Pats where he proved that he could get the job done at the top level of Junior enough to get Regina into the playoffs.
Starting 50 games for Regina, MacAuley finished with a 3.14 GAA and a 25-16-4 record with the Pats. That wasn't enough for the club to warrant keeping him in the picture during his final Junior season as the Pats are continuing to try to build towards contending and will be going with younger options in goal, but MacAuley mentioned that he learned a lot in Regina during what was a year where the goalie proved himself.
"I learned a lot during my stay in Regina, including some scheduling stuff that I wasn't as used to but it was a good experience as we got to the playoffs and I felt the jump up in play made me grow as a player."
Now 20 years old, MacAuley is now in a position where he is the experienced veteran after spending his time in Yorkton as the promising Junior prospect that had WHL ambitions when he took the Junior A world by storm in 2012/13 with a second half of the season that elevated the Terriers from one of the top teams in the league to champions after his hot streak between the pipes stole the job from Kale Thomson. Thomson then helped lead the Terriers to a clean sweep of the SJHL, Western Canada Cup and RBC Cup last season as one of the leaders on a team that leaves big shoes to fill even for players who have enjoyed success with the team. However, MacAuley knows that a big part of his focus relies on not putting too much pressure on himself making his plan to lead by example and do whatever he can to help the team win.
"I don't think about being a leader as something that has to do with age or anything like that," mentioned MacAuley. "Just because I am now 20 doesn't mean I am going to put too much pressure on myself in trying to lead because I feel that I can lead by playing to the best of my abilities in goal and being as focused as possible so I try not to get overly focused on things like that because it is so important to maintain that focus during the game to make sure that pucks are staying out of the net."
Posting some amazing Junior A numbers in the SJHL where MacAuley helped the Terriers win memorable series against the Melville Millionaires and the Humboldt Broncos including a triple overtime classic in the final, MacAuley feels that he can be an elite goaltender in the SJHL again in his return. Mentioning that while he was disappointed to not be included in the Pats plans, he hopes to once again show that he can be one of the best goalies in Junior hockey without being in the WHL by becoming an elite goaltender in the SJHL.
"I had a lot of success in the SJHL the first time around with the Terriers so I know there is something to build on to show that I can be one of the elite goaltenders in Junior A," MacAuley said. "We have a hardworking defence here and I feel that I have improved on my game a lot over the summer along with my experience playing with the Pats so the next step is going to be to show that night in and night out whenever I am in net."
MacAuley seems to be genuinely excited about his chance to finish his career in Yorkton, making the best out of a situation where his age ruled him out in Regina in a common situation for 20 year old players in the WHL who get sent down to end their Junior careers at the SJHL level. While mentioning his disappointment things didn't work out with the Pats after starting 50 times for the team last year, MacAuley did say that coming to Yorkton was the best possible situation after not making the team in Regina.
"Obviously staying in the WHL with the Pats was going to be the first goal because I felt I had a shot at making the team, but it is a great experience to be back with the Terriers because this is a great coaching staff and group of players. I know everyone pretty well from the coaching staff and the new players are all talented hard workers so to come back to Yorkton is going to be a fun ride to see what we can do as a group this year as defending back to back champions."
Yorkton's goaltending ranks were also boosted this week as Matt Kustra from the Prince George Cougars will be sticking around with the Junior A club, giving Cassan two talented goaltending options after things looked much more bleak at the beginning of training camp. If the Terriers former WHL goaltending tandem can use their disappointment to not stick around in the top league to motivate themselves to become the best goalies in the SJHL there may be a chance that for another year Yorkton will have the best goaltending in Junior A hockey. Looking to win a league title for a third straight time, the presence of Dawson MacAuley back in the Farrell Agencies Arena should make the city feel a lot better about their chances after the opening weekend of the 2014/15 SJHL season. If his stay is anything like the last time in Yorkton, MacAuley could be the X Factor that makes the rest of the SJHL worry even more about the back to back champs.
