Mark MacDonald and Hunter Warren are ready to come back to their alma mater. Across the board, there is one thing they are seeking: more wins.
Western Washington University’s new assistant hockey coach, Mark MacDonald, has been playing the sport since he was about 3 years old. After moving to Bellingham, MacDonald played for the Northern Pacific Hockey League junior team, the Bellingham Blazers, from 2012-2017. He then went on to play for the Western Washington Vikings club ice hockey team in 2017.
After having played four years as a defensive player, MacDonald graduated in 2022 and pursued coaching for the Blazers. He stuck with the team through two seasons before making his way back to Western.
“I played for Western so I have a lot of history with the club program. I was the club president,” MacDonald said. “During my time at Western I was the team captain. My dad actually coached me while I was playing for the team. So [there’s] just a lot of personal history and family history.”
Once he was done coaching for the Blazers, MacDonald was ready to step up to help out another team.
“I'm really good friends with Adam Segaar, who's the current head coach of the team. And he just asked if I wanted to come in and help out specifically with the defense and systems wise,” MacDonald said. “I said ‘yeah,’ because there's a lot of potential with that program, and I just want it to be as successful as possible,.”
Hunter Warren talks with one of the goalies at the prospect camp on May 4, 2024 at the Bellingham Sportsplex in Bellingham, Wash. Warren previously played for the Vikings as a goalie. // Photo by Natalie Ballard
Western’s other new assistant coach, Hunter Warren, graduated from the university in 2023 after playing goalie for its hockey team for four years. Following graduation, Warren coached for the Blazers with MacDonald. He was the team's mental health coach and did work with the goalies and forwards.
“A lot of [the Blazers players] are 15 to 19 years old, so [they] have never really had experience [with] mental health issues and how to take those first steps to getting better mental health and self-care,” Warren said. “A big part of what I did for that team was [having] little sessions with the guys and [teaching] them how to engage in self-care… outside of hockey.”
Warren is excited to coach for the Vikings and bring his perspective to the team.Western did not previously have a specific goaltending coach, so Warren looks forward to stepping into the role.
“Getting to say you coached college hockey is always a fun one,” Warren said. “It's just the people I will be coaching with. I think it's going to make a huge difference. I think we all work really well together.”
With experience as a defensive player, MacDonald looks forward to bringing his skill set to the Vikings.
“I think that there's a lot of untapped potential with a lot of the players and having more coaches with higher level backgrounds is going to help out developing those players into better hockey players,” MacDonald said. “And if they want to continue to pursue hockey after college, hopefully I can help with that as well.”
Patrick Pierson, a Western hockey player, said he’s happy to have a more well-rounded coaching staff that can help take some of the weight off of coach Segaar’s shoulders.
“It's really awesome of [MacDonald] and Warren to be coming back to this team…They're both very invested in the hockey community both at Western and Bellingham,” Pierson said. “It's very awesome to see them step up and come back and help the team that they came from a little bit because, ultimately, they played a huge part in growing the team to what it is today. I’m very excited to see what they can continue to do, helping us out throughout the next year [and] many years to come.”
The Vikings’ season will start during fall quarter following tryouts in early September. The best way to stay up to date with the team’s schedule and events is through their Instagram @wwuicehockey.
Mark MacDonald races down the ice demonstrating a drill at the prospect camp on May 4, 2024 at the Bellingham Sportsplex in Bellingham, Wash. MacDonald was a defensive player for the vikings while he was in college. // Photo by Natalie Ballard
Meladie Young is in her second year at Western majoring in Visual Journalism. She is a sports and recreation reporter for The Front this quarter. In her free time you can find her with her camera or watching hockey. You can reach her at meladieyoung.thefront@gmail.com.
