Ian MacKay has a tradition before each game. He kisses the tape at the end of his stick, on which he’s written a single word: “family.”
On Jan. 10 against the Toronto Rock, he added an extra step – kissing the white, pink and black sticker on the back of his helmet. The sticker featured a cancer ribbon bearing two letters: “S C,’ the initials of his stepdad, Steve Clark, who passed away from pancreatic cancer on Jan. 1.
Nine days later against the Rock, MacKay had a career-best performance, notching eight points (5+3) in a 15-13 win. It was his second five-goal game of the season, making him just the second non-forward in the last 20 seasons to accomplish that feat.
“I definitely would say that Steve was with me, and with our team in the game,” MacKay said. “To have five goals, the story of it is pretty cool with it being the first game since he passed and honoring him.”
Mickey doin’ Mickey things! 🔥#LetsGoBandits | @IanMacKay_94 pic.twitter.com/xYj4WGmbEz
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) January 11, 2025
For MacKay’s first goal of the game, he cut towards the goal, crow hopped off his right leg, and fired a shot past Rock goalkeeper Nick Rose. As soon as it went in, he fist pumped, then kissed his glove through his helmet and pointed to the sky.
Then, with just seconds remaining in the first quarter, MacKay miraculously took a shot from beyond the restraining line, scoring with under a second left in the quarter for his second goal in less than a minute.
“When that first goal dropped, it was kind of a relief and was a deep breath and then the tribute to Steve after it,” MacKay said. “My shot was just dropping, and guys were trusting me and getting me the ball.”
Despite playing transition for the first five years of his career, MacKay’s switched to primarily offense this season and time after time, he’s found a way to find the back of the net.
Instead of Dhane Smith or Josh Byrne leading the Bandits in goals four games into the season, it’s MacKay with 13.
“He does the little things that go unnoticed although he’s leading our team in goals,” Smith said. “He just does the dirty work, brings up loose balls, he buzzes around and he’s getting rewarded and putting the ball in the back of the net.”
No matter where head coach John Tavares has had MacKay play, he’s had success. Despite playing what Tavares called “half and half,” with half of his playing time on offense and half at the transition position against Ottawa on Dec. 13, MacKay found a way to be great.
In the 18-7 win over the Black Bears, he scored a career-high five goals to lead the team in scoring while also helping restrict Ottawa to its second-lowest goal total this season.
“I love playing transition, that’s what I’ve prided myself on my whole career, even in juniors coming up to pro,” MacKay said. “Lots of credit to our guys and JT for having trust in me to be up on offense. It’s not a 1-2-3 system, everyone has the capability of scoring and going off and, luckily, it’s been me.”
MacKay has had support this season, not just on the field but off it as well from teammates and fans. He credits Byrne and Smith with playing a big part. Not only have the two players assisted on 10 of his 13 goals, including Smith contributing to four of his five against Toronto, but they’ve been there for their friend off the field.
When MacKay found out his stepdad was sick, they were among the first people he told. Then, when his stepdad was getting sicker, they were among the people he leaned on and again were some of the first people he told when he found out Clark had passed.
It was Smith’s idea for the helmet sticker to honor MacKay’s stepdad, allowing him to be supported by his second family at KeyBank Center.
“I originally was like, ‘You know what, maybe it’s something I do on my own to honor him, it doesn’t have to be any bigger than it’s already become,” MacKay said. “He was like, ‘We’re a family and you’re going through this and if you’re going through this, we’re going through this. I give a ton of credit to Dhane for that.”
Ian MacKay was playing for something more. 🧡
After recently losing his step-dad to cancer this month, Ian set a new career-high in points (8) and tied a career-high in goals (5) in last night’s win. pic.twitter.com/W73hTaJR9V
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) January 11, 2025
MacKay will continue to honor his stepdad this season, just as he did against Toronto.
“To be able to help the team win is the ultimate goal and to be able to do what I did and come out with the win, pretty poetic night for sure.”