PROFILE
NOLAN MCGUIRE
The Hometown Hero
BY ADAM PELESHATY Photos by Ryan Sawatzky
One day during the 2017 offseason , months after his team was swept by the OCN Blizzard in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League semifinals , Winkler Flyers right winger Nolan McGuire had just finished his workout . While driving , he was approached by the vehicle of his head coach Ken Pearson .
“ He rolled down his window at a stop sign and asked me to stop at the rink ,” McGuire recalled . “ When I came into the rink , he sat me down in the office and we started talking . He looked at me and asked , ‘ Would I like to be the captain of the Winkler Flyers for this season ?’”
He accepted and this season , the 21-year-old has become a leader on and off the ice . In his fourth and final season with the Flyers , McGuire has career-highs in goals ( 25 ) and points ( 42 ) in
46 games as of mid-February , with both totals ranking in the top three on the team . He is also tied for the league lead with the Selkirk Steelers ’ Connor Barley in power play goals with 12 .
Last December , he was named the team ’ s Player of the Month after recording seven points in seven games . The next month , he played for Team Belfour ( named for former Flyer and Hall of Fame netminder Ed Belfour ) in the two-day SJHL / MJHL Showcase in Regina . He scored a goal in both games and was named the MJHL ’ s Player of the Game in the final match .
McGuire is also part of a veteran-laden squad with seven other 1997-born players , currently ranked fourth in the MJHL with a 32-21-0 record for 64 points . While his team will not reach
32 | GAME ON | PLAYOFF EDITION 2018