Michael McNamee, former player for the Raven’s men’s hockey team, is now playing professional hockey for EC Bad Nauheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (German Ice Hockey League), the country’s second-level professional ice hockey league.
During his four seasons with the Ravens, McNamee collected 134 points in 102 games.
The former Raven said he believes that his time at Carleton made him into the player he is today through experiences with the coaching staff and his teammates.
“I was able to grow with confidence year after year at Carleton and that allowed my game to grow into a more complete game,” McNamee said in an email.
He said that Marty Johnston, former head coach of the Raven’s men’s hockey team, had one of the biggest impacts on McNamee’s career. Johnston placed a lot of trust in McNamee over the four years he was there, and the two were able to build a strong relationship.
“If it weren’t for the trust Marty placed in me over my four years at Carleton, I am not sure if I would have gotten to experience all that I had,” McNamee said.
Mark Cavallin, who is now the assistant coach for the Carleton Ravens and spent years coaching McNamee alongside Johnston, had nothing but good things to say about McNamee.
“[McNamee] is a quiet person, a quiet player and he leads by example . . . he can find an opportunity out of nothing,” Cavallin said.
McNamee’s prowess on the ice allowed him to play for the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League (AHL) at the end of the 2016-17 season. After this, he decided to take his talent to Europe to play in the German DEL-2 league.
“[McNamee] had a taste of playing in the AHL and taste of playing in Europe during our road trip . . . he’s a free spirit kind of guy and wanted to have an experience [in Europe],” Cavallin said.
McNamee said he found traveling around Canada was a way that helped him adapt to playing in Germany. McNamee also traveled to Halifax and Saskatchewan for U Sports nationals with the Ravens, and played against World Junior prospects while representing his country in Kazakhstan.
“Carleton gave me the opportunity to experience the world and hockey itself like I never imagined,” McNamee said.
McNamee plays center for EC Bad Nauheim and has collected three goals, and five assists for eight points in 10 games in his first season.
“It has been a good start to the season for myself and my team. It is a good league with a lot of talented players,” McNamee said.
McNamee was a lethal offensive weapon in USports, using his strong hockey skillset to become one of the top players in USports.
“[McNamee] can find place to get away from other players and you could never tell if he was going to shoot or pass. . . his speed and his ability to process the game quickly set him apart,” Cavallin said. “[In Europe] he needs to be leaned on as the point guy and he loves that.”
It took a while for McNamee to adapt to the German league style of play. The ice surface is larger, and he added that getting to meet and play with new teammates was a challenge.
“I am still trying to learn and become more consistent as I can be, day in and day out and I like the challenges that come from that,” McNamee said.
Cavallin noted that McNamee has his options open for his career, and said that “he can be an effective player here in the pro leagues in North America.”
McNamee said he hopes to play hockey as long as he can at the highest level possible. He loves the game, but understands it is tough to predict the future.
“I will work as hard as I can to become a better hockey player, and I think I will be rewarded for that,” he said. “One thing is for sure though, I will always be a Raven.”
Graphic by Christopher Young
