The team lines up to the sound of the national anthem

Claiming two golds with in the period of one year with the Australian Youth team last March 2009 and then now with the Australian Junior team just this week Shannon Macgregor is in top form.

The Australian Junior Team started by winning their group taking down Bulgaria 11-1 and New Zealand 5-1 which led them to the semi against DPR Korea.   A tight 4-3 win and promotion to Division 2 secured the Aussies found themselves against Iceland for the Gold Medal game where they were victorious 3-1.

The 18 year old Ice Dogs Defenceman found himself 10th among defensive scoring leaders with 2 goals and 1 assist in 4 games.  “I am impressed to see Shannon’s performance on the stat sheet especially his plus minus tally and scoring percentage” says Dogs coach Mark Stephenson.   Economical would be the best way to sum up Macgregor’s perfomance with a +2  rating, 2 penalty minutes in a tournament where Australian’s usually spend alot of time in the penalty box (sin bin) and a scoring percentage of 16.67% (2 goals off 12 shots).

Note: Plus-minus rating is when you are awarded a +1 everytime you are on the ice when your team scores, but a -1 when you are on the ice when your team is scored against.  It can be used as a good measure of the defensive awareness and capabilites of players – forwards and defence.

In 2009, Macgregor elevated his game to the next level seeming more confident at the AIHL level and has the ability to lift his game a few more levels if he keeps up the hardwork and learns from his fellow Dogs D-corp.