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GoonerBear · 12-23-2020, 06:57 PM

After a career spanning 16 seasons in the Simulation Hockey League, Reginald MacIntyre announced down the home stretch of the season this would be his last on the ice. The longtime Manhattan Rage defenseman began reevaluating his role in the organization after a particularly rough time of it in Season 55, which saw him hit a career low in scoring, his first negative plus-minus mark for the season in 7 seasons, and relegation to third-pair minutes to make room for defensemen better-suited for longer minutes. Season 56 confirmed his choice to retire, as his scoring production didn't budge and his physical presence declined once more, notching far fewer hits and shots blocked than the season before.

In private, he notified the club he planned on hanging the skates up at the end of the coming season, with some advice from management he stood to top at least one chart in Rage franchise history. By playing out the full schedule this season, MacIntyre would take the record for most regular-season games played for the Rage, surpassing the 758 mark Roy Razin set over his career. He played his 759th regular-season game in a Rage uniform in a bittersweet 6-2 loss against the Buffalo Stampede this season and became the first to play 800 in a 5-4 win over the Toronto North Stars. At the time of writing, he is set to retire at 10th in points in franchise history, 6th in assists, 2nd in shots blocked, 4th in hits given, 4th in PIM, 2nd in PK minutes, and 2nd in total minutes. He was named #6 overall and #3 among defensemen in the Manhattan Rage's Top 50 in 50, a ranking of the 50 best Rage players from S2 to S51.

In the postseason, he ties with five contemporaries (Luke Thomason, Alex Winters, Jax Aittokallio, Barret McCarthy, and David Kastrba) for most postseason games played for the Rage at 88. Those still in the game after will likely surpass him next season. Additionally, he is 9th in points, 4th in PIM, 4th in hits, 3rd in shots blocked, 6th in minutes, ties for 9th in special points, is 3rd in PK minutes, and notched three game-winning goals in the postseason. Should the Rage qualify for the postseason, he will be among the first ever to compete for the Rage in 10 postseasons.

MacIntyre began his career as a fresh-faced prospect out of Inverness, Scotland, a nose-to-the-grindstone defensive defenseman willing to do the dirty work on the back end to set up success for his team on the attack and shutting down shots before the goalie could be troubled. He was selected 9th overall in the 2nd round of the S40 SMJHL Draft by the Halifax Raiders, now the Maine Timber. He was taken ahead of contemporaries who would later surpass him on the SHL Draft board and had more superstar upshot later on in their careers - forward Flacko Lagerfield (taken 20th by the Detroit Falcons) and goalie Kata Vilde (24th to the Kelowna Knights). He would make a decent showing in his first season for the Raiders, notching 2 goals, 12 assists, 25 hits and 42 blocked shots. He would improve those marks the following season, contributing 4 goals, 21 assists, 81 hits and 73 blocked shots for the Raiders and Vancouver Whalers after a trade deadline deal which sent the S41 Assistant Captain to a playoff-bound team.

He was immediately invited to play for Great Britain's crossover team with Ireland at the World Junior Championships. He would earn silver at the S40 tournament and bronze at the S41 games.

MacIntyre was the first draft selection of new general manager Jakub Aittokallio. He was the 4th player selected in the S41 SHL Draft, taken in the 5th overall draft position as the San Francisco Pride forfeited their first-round selection that season. Aittokallio admitted he never expected MacIntyre to still be available by their turn, as MacIntyre was #1 on his personal board. When the Highlander was still waiting for the call, Aittokallio decided Manhattan would ring him up. After two rounds of seasoning in the major junior league, MacIntyre was called up for S42 to join the Rage's defense. Though struggling to be a net positive for the NYC side, going -19 on plus/minus, he notched 3 goals, 16 assists, threw 32 hits and blocked 92 shots, a franchise rookie record that still stands at the time of writing. Behind the scenes, Aittokallio promised the young defenseman they were on the up-and-up despite their rebuild struggles. He would have to be patient anywhere to get minutes, though he would have an easier time getting them as the first piece of a rebuild from their faded glory days of the S38 Challenge Cup title run. And he would especially have to remain patient with the franchise as they continued stocking up on draft capital to secure the future core of the franchise, a core that included later significant contributors such as Alex Winters, David Kastrba, Luke Thomason, Craig Finley, Barret McCarthy, Peter Larson, Tokek Takshak (later taken to San Francisco), Andrej Doskocil, and David Vent.

Internationally, MacIntyre was invited to the senior squad for S40 for a side relatively shallow compared to the likes of the USA and Canada, who had their pick of the litter and could be selective. He debuted with a side that would take the silver medal, falling in the gold medal game and giving him his first taste of coming oh so close to glory. He would share in that glory in S41, when for the first time ever, the United Kingdom (now styled Great Britain) won gold at the IIHF Senior Tournament. He would have little to do statistically and didn't play in the title tilt, though he had a new goal - earn a gold medal under his eventual leadership.

Back with the Rage, when the ball finally got rolling, though, they forged a strong group of playoff contenders. The team finally made the postseason for the first time in 8 seasons in S46. MacIntyre was instrumental to the Rage winning out a 7-game bout with the Toronto North Stars before they succumbed to the Buffalo Stampede in 5 games in the Eastern Conference Finals. MacIntyre's first taste of postseason success would set his determinations even higher - this was a group that could win the Challenge Cup. And MacIntyre would lead this group. Before S47 began, he was named Captain of the Manhattan Rage. Internationally, he was finding his stride with the British, though he wouldn't be a major player until their S47 run. Once more, they took silver in S46, then under MacIntyre's leadership from the blue line, he contributed 16 points to the federation's second-ever gold medal in S47. That scoring mark would come to stand as his career high in one tournament for God and country.

That momentum was dampened when the Rage lost in the S47 Eastern Conference Wild Card in 5 to the Chicago Syndicate, then the team failed to qualify for the postseason in S48. He would have his statistically best season in S49, racking up 38 points from 9 goals and 29 assists and notching a +17 plus/minus, his first positive season mark of his SHL career. Once more, the team looked strong enough to win the Cup, though once again, they met their ouster in the Eastern Conference Finals, this time against the New England Wolfpack. Disheartened, MacIntyre would stagnate for a couple of seasons and step down from the captaincy when re-elections opened up prior to S50. This plateau came at an arguably bad time for him, as this was expected to be the height of his career, the peak of his developmental potential, and it would not be long before time would start to fight his body. He would have somewhat of a last hurrah before levelling off, taking silver at the IIHF championships, his third, and contributing 12 points.

He still had good showings from the defense in those two seasons, though he came back into improving form near the end of S51, in time for the former captain to help rekindle the team's spirits and inspire and support its new clubhouse leadership going into the postseason. He had glided through their S50 defeat in the Wild Card to Toronto in 6, though with the flame rekindled, they pushed for an Eastern Conference title for the third time in six seasons following a nail-biting 7-game win over the Chicago Syndicate. And for the third time in six seasons, they were defeated. The Hamilton Steelhawks downed the Rage in 5. Defeat would serve as inspiration for MacIntyre to regroup with the club. Moreso, the first signs of wear and tear began to show. If he was going to be a key contributor to a Rage championship, time was now winding down. He adjusted his playstyle to be more offensive-minded now that he had the ability to contribute on both ends. He had notched 11 points for Great Britain, though they did not advance to the medal round in S50 or S51.

Season 52 would have to be that time. The league's move to FHM meant the Rage would not know what to expect on the other side, for better or worse. After a season that saw them take the 2nd seed in the East, they set up for a showdown against the Chicago Syndicate, now a familiar postseason rival. MacIntyre would score the goal that held up as the game winner in Game 1. The next three games, however, nearly gutted him and the club. Three consecutive losses, and the Rage were staring down an unceremonious exit. He had provided an assist in their Game 3 loss, and showed fight in him yet in Game 5, providing an assist on the game-tying goal. This would prove crucial, as it gave the opportunity Barret McCarthy would seize upon to win the game and keep Manhattan alive in the postseason. He would be Third Star of Game 6, scoring a goal and an assist in a 3-0 victory that evened the series. Even when the chips were down, MacIntyre held as a pillar the team could rely upon and the side fed off of it. He would provide the first assist and help the Rage hold firm in a 5-1 win in Game 7, cementing their comeback from a 3-1 series deficit. For the 4th time in 7 seasons, the Rage stepped up to challenge for the Eastern Conference title against the Stampede.

MacIntyre would score a go-ahead goal four seconds into the third of Game 1, which the Rage won 4-3 in overtime. He would provide two assists in Game 4 and hold the line in Game 6 to secure the Rage's first Challenge Cup Finals trip in 14 seasons...against the San Francisco Pride, now led by his friend and former defensive partner, Tokek Takshak.

He would provide an assist for the second goal in a 3-2 Game 3 win and the primary assist in a 1-0 win that put one hand on the Cup for the Rage. A 3-1 series lead. Just one more to grab it with both hands. A 2-0 loss had the team hearing echoes of the Syndicate series. Would that magic now turn on them? They felt shaken defensively as they were behind 4-3 at the end of the first period. On an early second-period power play, MacIntyre flipped one up to Jax Aittokallio, relations of the GM who brought him into the fold, and the younger Aittokallio knocked down the dish to level the game. With their footing regained, he helped hold the line for the next two periods as a tense defensive battle emerged following the equalizer. His efforts along with others were finally rewarded when Alex Winters scored with under a minute and a half left in regulation. An empty netter would seal it. Though he had given up the C, MacIntyre was a big spiritual leader in the club's Challenge Cup title run...and its leading defenseman scorer in that postseason. When the Rage had lost in S49, this trophy felt lightyears away, a peak that teased him and yet never paid off.

The elusiveness of this trophy had broken his spirit before. With his soul reinvigorated and even resilient through yet another postseason disappointment and through several points at which the train could have derailed...here it was. David Kastrba, another "old-timer" by comparison to the rest of the team, handed MacIntyre the Cup. During his entire lap around the rink with it, his arms never faltered. He otherwise looked like a kid on Christmas running around with his number-one requested gift. All facades and sternness faded away as the younger players watched the old veteran carry the trophy like it was nothing. After everyone else who already held it, it seemed right that it next go to Jax Aittokallio. The center he had passed the puck to for the tying goal, he now passed the Cup to. The Aittokallio family had been good to MacIntyre his entire career to this point. It felt right that he get to be start a moment of pride for that family.

And that season would become even sweeter still. He regained some of his old step for Great Britain's (and his) third gold medal at the S52 IIHF World Championships, cementing his first-ever season double. He was the only player to do the double that season and the last of the SimonT era.

Across the next two seasons, MacIntyre would still produce well for the Rage from the back. His move to second line was strategic and helped them remain strong contenders to run it back, even with the transition to FHM. Seasons of 24 and 30 points respectively for S53 and S54. He notched a career-high +22 in S53 only to re-up his personal best with +25 the next season. The FHM era didn't shake up so much that the Rage fell out of the top of the East. They would be ousted from the conference semifinals in those two seasons, however. The hangover came due in the postseason, put down in 6 by New England and 4 by the Hamilton Steelhawks. Internationally, he would add a bronze medal to his cabinet in S53 another silver medal in S54.

The first signs showed in S55 that MacIntyre was not long for playing professional hockey. A career-worst 12 points. His first minus season in plus/minus since he broke his career-opening streak. Relegation to the third line with the understanding of all involved this was best for the club. He would still be active and a modest contributor to Great Britain's fourth gold medal in S55, an upside in an otherwise sour ending to that year. Two more first-round exits in S55 and S56. Equaling that mark of 12 points in S56. He had decided that third-line would be a condition of retirement before this stage, and a decline this sharp persisting for this length pushed him to make the call. In the offseason before S57, after scoring his fifth silver medal at the IIHF championships, he announced internally to the club and to his federation this would be his last season. Support poured in, and the teams were grateful for his service up to that point, understanding.

Down the stretch, the announcement went public. The support has been great, MacIntyre said, and he's glad he could have the career path he did. Even if the Hall will never come calling, the friendships forged, lows endured, and triumphs achieved made it a worthwhile career. If the IIHF Hall was still a thing, this reporter hopes they would definitely come calling for a man with 10 medals around his neck, 4 of them gold out of the 9 times the federation has advanced to the finals. He would love to make it 5 gold medals in his 18th tournament for the rulers of the waves. He's been there through GB's IIHF Golden Age. C'mon. Get that back up and get him in.

In the postmortem of Reginald MacIntyre's career, we see that it could have lasted longer. It could have been more glamorous. It could have been that he trained up earlier to become glamorous. Aside from team accomplishments, he didn't win individual accolades once he made the jump to the SHL. The closest he came was losing a tiebreaker for the Bojo Biscuit in S51. He had two user-based awards in S41 in the SMJHL. If he wanted to be glamorous, though, he would have come into the league as such. He didn't come to play for personal glory. He didn't pick a position or style that would make him a superstar, fighting to win scoring titles. He played what would be best for the team, in the position they needed, in a way that complemented the scheme. He did what others needed him to do in order for them to succeed, and for the team as a whole to. And it was in that that he became Manhattan's beloved veteran of 16 seasons, that his temporary stagnation was mourned, and his return to form was celebrated in Manhattan. And those rough patches and disappointments made the eventual Cup win in S52 all the sweeter.

It could have been more than it was. It could have ended later than now. The same can be said of anyone's career in the SHL, though. This reporter can be satisfied at the end of it all that his career played out this way.

Jorec · 12-23-2020, 10:19 PM

Great article and congratulations on a wonderful career. Smile

DeletedAtUserRequest · 12-24-2020, 01:32 AM

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JayWhy · 12-24-2020, 01:34 AM

One of the very best of all time, great article chronicling a great man.

An old man's dream ended. A young man's vision of the future opened wide. Young men have visions, old men have dreams. But the place for old men to dream is beside the fire.