Defending the blue line: Shannon McGregor

With seven seasons and 166-games of AIHL experience under his belt, defencemen Shannon McGregor is now a veteran presence on the blue line for the Sydney Ice Dogs and, more recently, the Mighty Roos.

Starting in the league at just 18 years of age, McGregor has played under four different head coaches but says the club culture of the western Sydney team remains the same regardless of the frequent changes behind the bench, including the recent departure of head coach Andrew Petrie to the Newcastle North Stars.

“The changes in coaching staff have been a bit rough in the team,” the 23-year old said. “Last year we had a coaching change after two games into the season, and we didn't have a new one until a couple of weeks after. I think the boys did well to finish last season as well as we did, though I’m not sure yet who will be the coach next year.”

The Liverpool side are known league wide as a hard-nosed team that always finishes their checks and come to battle every night on the ice. The physical game brought to the ice see the Ice Dogs frequently run up penalty minutes though they’ve been making efforts in recent years to take a more disciplined approach.

“We take less penalties now and there are not as many fights,” McGregor said. “I think last year was the least amount of fights I have seen, partly because of some of the rule changes I guess, but also the different playing style.”

Having started young, Ice Dogs’ defencemen’s own game was able to mature when he spent two seasons with the Bobcaygeon Bucks in the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL) in 2010-11 and 2011-12. At one point, a busy McGregor was able to play in the AIHL, GMHL as well as representing team Australia U20 with the different season schedules and took advantage of the increased ice time.

“It definitely helped my confidence playing in the GMHL,” McGregor said. “I think just all the extra games and playing time made a big difference to my confidence on the ice being able to make plays and move the puck better.”

McGregor has been able to see great success at an international level so far in his career. Representing Australia in the junior levels, he was part of the gold medal winning Australian teams in 2009 and 2010 at the IIHF World U18 and U20 Championships respectively.

Following his great form in 2013, McGregor was called up to the senior men’s Mighty Roos squad. Although squad finished a respectable fourth, McGregor hopes that the Mighty Roos can return to Division I.

“It's definitely a tougher competition at the senior level and also the change in the way the teams are pooled makes the competition more even,” McGregor said. “Being able to keep the same team together for a few years would make a difference I think as we only really get to skate together for a few weeks leading up to the tournament.”

With the Sydney Ice Dogs’ 2014 squad well represented in the senior side with five players selected, including four defencemen, McGregor believes it was their style of play that appealed most to Australian coach Ryan O’Handley.

“I think all our D move the puck well and are good skaters which is a big plus at the international level” McGregor said. “The way Paul [Baranzelli], Bert [Malloy] and Brian [Funes] can contribute to the offence of the team would have been a big plus as well.”

With the AIHL off-season in full swing and the 2015 IIHF World Championship Division II not scheduled until April, keeping in shape for the national side is hard for some but McGregor is prepared to put in the work needed to defend the blue line for Australia.

“I’ve been following a program from raw strength and conditioning which has been pretty tough but I am starting to see some good results,” McGregor said. “Having on ice sessions with some of the local boys and the junior league players has been great as well.”