Aaron G. MacKenzie (born March 7, 1981, in

Terrace Bay Terrace Bay is a township in Thunder Bay District in northern Ontario, Canada, located on the north shore of Lake Superior east of Thunder Bay along Highway 17. The name originates from a series of lake terraces formed as the water level in L ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

. He played briefly in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) with the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

, where he currently resides.

Playing career

Undrafted, MacKenzie played junior hockey with the

Thunder Bay Flyers The Thunder Bay Flyers were a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. History On July 6, 1980, the Degagne Buccaneers and Thunder Bay North Stars were informed by the TBAHA that they would not be permitted to field teams i ...

of the

USHL The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...

, before playing collegiate hockey with the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...

for four years. After his senior year with the Pioneers, MacKenzie turned pro signing with the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

on October 6, 2003. MacKenzie made his professional debut in the 2003–04 season with Blues affiliate, the

Worcester IceCats The Worcester IceCats were a US ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Worcester, Massachusetts, at the Worcester Centrum. In 2005 the team was renamed the Peoria Rivermen and moved to Peoria, Illinois. History The IceCats ...

of the AHL. While never playing a game with the Blues, Mackenzie became a fixture in the AHL, playing with the Blues affiliates for 5 years. On July 14, 2008, MacKenzie signed with the

and was assigned to affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters, to start the 2008–09 season. MacKenzie received his first NHL recall on November 29, 2008, but did not feature in a game for the Avalanche. Towards the end of the season, MacKenzie was recalled again to the Avalanche on April 4, 2009, and made his NHL debut in a 4–1 victory against the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

on April 5, 2009. Unsigned prior to the 2009-10 season, MacKenzie signed with the

Idaho Steelheads The Idaho Steelheads are an American professional minor league ice hockey team based in Boise, Idaho, and a member of the ECHL. The Steelheads play in the Mountain Division of the ECHL's Western Conference since the 2016–17 season. In 1996, th ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

on October 19, 2009. After appearing in 3 games with the Steelheads, Aaron left the team to sign with

HC Pardubice HC Dynamo Pardubice is a professional ice hockey club that plays in the Czech Extraliga. Its home venue is Enteria arena located in Pardubice. The club was originally named LTC Pardubice, acquiring its current name at the start of the 2015� ...

of the

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga ( cs, Extraliga ledního hokeje, ELH) is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created by the 1993 split of the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League following the breakup of Czechoslovakia. The le ...

on November 2, 2009. MacKenzie settled as a stay-at-home defender in the Czech Republic and appeared in 29 games to help, the

Dominik Hašek Dominik Hašek (, ; born January 29, 1965) is a Czech former ice hockey goaltender who mostly played for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). Widely regarded as one of the best goaltenders of all time, Hašek also played for ...

inspired Pardubice, capture the Championship for the first time since 2005. On June 16, 2010, Mackenzie left Pardubice and signed as a free agent to a one-year contract with

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n team, EHC Black Wings Linz of the EBEL. On June 12, 2012, MacKenzie signed with the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

Denver Cutthroats The Denver Cutthroats were a minor league ice hockey team, as a member of the Central Hockey League, that began play in the 2012–13 season. They served as a farm team of the National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche and the American Hockey ...

, making him the first signed player in franchise history. After two seasons as captain of the Cutthroats, and coming off a finals appearance, MacKenzie was due to return for a third season in the ill-fated CHL before the club announced its suspension of operations, effectively ending MacKenzie's professional season.

Career statistics

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackenzie, Aaron 1981 births Colorado Avalanche players Denver Cutthroats players Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey players EHC Black Wings Linz players HC Dynamo Pardubice players Ice hockey people from Ontario Idaho Steelheads (ECHL) players Lake Erie Monsters players Living people People from Thunder Bay District Peoria Rivermen (AHL) players Thunder Bay Flyers players Tohoku Free Blades players Undrafted National Hockey League players Worcester IceCats players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Austria Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Japan