Viking alumni became hockey coaches

Mark MacDonald and Hunter Warren are ready to return to their alma mater. Across the board, there's one thing they're looking for: more wins.

Universities of Western Washington New assistant hockey coach Mark MacDonald has been playing the sport since he was about 3 years old. After moving to Bellingham, MacDonald played for the Northern Pacific Hockey League junior team, the Bellingham Blazers, from 2012 to 2017. In 2017, he joined the club ice hockey team, the Western Washington Vikings.

After playing four years as a defenseman, MacDonald graduated in 2022 and went on to coach for the Blazers. He remained with the team for two seasons before returning to Western.

I played for Western, so I have a lot of history with the club program. I was the club president, MacDonald said. When I was at Western, I was the team captain. My dad coached me when I was playing for the team. So [theres] Just a lot of personal history and family history.

After he finished coaching for the Blazers, MacDonald was eager to help another team.

“I'm really good friends with Adam Segaar, the current head coach of the team. And he just asked if I wanted to come in and help out with the defense and systems in particular,” MacDonald said. “I said yes, because there's a lot of potential with that program, and I just want to see it be as successful as possible.”

Westerns’ other new assistant coach, Hunter Warren, graduated from college in 2023 after playing goalie for the hockey team for four years. After graduating, Warren coached the Blazers with MacDonald. He was the team’s mental health coach, working with the goalies and forwards.

A lot of [the Blazers players] are 15 to 19 years old, so [they] never really had any experience [with] mental health issues and how to take those first steps toward better mental health and self-care, Warren said. A big part of what I did for that team was [having] little sessions with the boys and [teaching] how they can take care of themselves outside of hockey.

Warren is excited to coach the Vikings and bring his perspective to the team. Western previously did not have a dedicated goaltending coach, so Warren is excited to step into that role.

It's always fun to say you coached college hockey, Warren said. It's just the people I'm going to be coaching with. I think it's going to make a big difference. I think we all work really well together.

MacDonald has experience as a defender and is looking forward to putting his skills to use with the Vikings.

I think there is a lot of untapped potential in a lot of players and having more coaches with a background at a higher level will help develop those players into better hockey players, MacDonald said. And if they want to continue playing hockey after college, hopefully I can help with that as well.

Patrick Pierson, a hockey player from the west of the country, said he is happy with a more versatile coaching staff that can take the burden off coach Segaar's shoulders.

It's really great of [MacDonald] and Warren to come back to this team. They're both very involved in the hockey community, both at Western and Bellingham, Pierson said. It's great to see them step up and come back and help out the team that they came from a little bit, because ultimately they've played a huge role in growing the team to what it is today. I'm excited to see what they can continue to do, to help us in the coming year. [and] many more years to go.

The Vikings season begins in the fall semester after tryouts in early September. The best way to stay up to date with the team's schedule and events is through their Instagram @wwuicehockey.

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