This week I had the opportunity to speak to Forward Zaine McKenzie, who is relatively new to the Phantoms after joining the team half way through last season and now finds himself on a 2-way contract between the Phantoms and the Elite League team the Coventry Blaze.
When I started speaking to Zaine, I wanted to begin the interview by going back to the very start to his hockey journey to find out the moment he realised he wanted to pursue ice hockey in a way that was more than just a hobby. He expressed how it was “...around the age of 13-14, I was becoming obsessed and started taking it really seriously.”.
Zaine has had a lot of experience with being able to play for the GB U20s as well as many different teams around the country such as the Nottingham Panthers, Telford Tigers, Berkshire Bees, and a few more. But from all these experiences I wanted to put his memory to the test and ask him what was the most defining moment of his career so far and why did it stand out? He replied with “Playing my first EIHL game or making the GB U20’s. They were 2 of my main goals when I was growing up, so to achieve them and start progressing towards a career in hockey has been great”. Similarly. I also thought it may have been interesting to ask him to share a memory that he will carry with him for the rest of his life and to this question he explained how winning medals for your country at GB levels with the U20s will be the memory he carries.
While this interview took place, I learnt that Zaine while playing ice hockey is also balancing University after asking him how has being a hockey player shaped who you are as a person and off the ice, to which he responded with “It’s helped me in many ways. It teaches you discipline for daily life, also how to work in team environments and to learn consistently. Being at Uni alongside hockey, my time management skills, for instance, have to be really good, and this has made me enjoy the journey away from the rink and feel very productive as a person.” Zaine, while he is at Coventry, has taken up a role that includes working closely within the community in addition to icing for the team.
While he has all these things to balance off the ice, it could make it hard to keep the passion for the game alive as well as for all athletes through potential injuries they could face. So from this, I wanted to quiz Zaine on how he keeps his passion and enjoyment for the game alive even through the hard times. He responded to this question by saying, “My reason why, which is my family, they have supported me since the get go and they have never left my side. So I try and always take it back to that when things may be rough”. Following on from Zaine mentioning about his family being a big part of him keeping faith during the potentially tough times, I asked him to elaborate on the role that his friends and family play in his career, and from this question he explained, “Huge role, they have stood by me the whole journey. Through the highs and lows, can’t thank them enough!”
On the final couple of serious questions of the interview, I wanted to touch on looking back on the mentality during his youth with hockey, identity and the legacy he wants to leave. To start I wanted to find out by looking back on his younger days playing hockey what he would look back and say to himself from when he started playing and he started by saying “ Enjoy it, have fun, work very hard.”
While we were on the topic of looking back on his career and how it’s evolved through the years, I wanted to question how he feels his identity as a hockey player has evolved from when he first started playing to now. He explained,” I think hockey is a constant learning process so my identity has been shaped from learning and listening to older, more experienced guys. So I try to stay true to my identity by working hard and playing simple to get the job done.”
Lastly on the serious questions, legacy is something all players wish to leave behind when they eventually hang the skates up and with Zaine being a big part of the Coventry community program, I wanted to know what his feelings were towards the legacy he wants to leave. He made it clear that in his words “I’d like to be reliable and an effective player on the ice who can bring energy and continue to give back to the fans off the ice, as without them we wouldn’t have a team!”.
Now, onto the more silly questions!
At this point of the interview, I was able to give Zaine a few quick fire questions to get a few funny questions to balance out the seriousness of the previous ones asked!
- What’s the weirdest pre-game ritual you’ve ever done? - “No pre-game rituals are weird haha.”
- What’s your go-to hype song before a game? And why? - “I don’t have a specific, I’ve always had a good team DJ so I let them do their thing.”
- Favourite rink to play in? And why? - “Phantoms, they bring the energy!”
- If you weren’t playing hockey, what is the sport you would want to play professionally? - “ Tennis”
- If your team had a talent show… What would your act be? - “ I would show off the tricks my dog can do”
- What is your favorite non-hockey hobby or way to relax? - “ I switch off by going on long hikes with my dog or bike riding”
Now before we ended the interview, I wanted to bring the topic back to hockey and find out how he is feeling going into the upcoming season so I brought up if he had any personal goals coming into this new season and he responded with “To continue to work hard and develop as a player and work on small details of my game. I would also like to win some silverware!”. Also leading on from questioning on the new season upon us, I asked Zaine what he was looking forward to as the season was starting soon, to which he said “ Getting back in the routine of the hockey season, and enjoying movements with the team.”.
To end, the final question I wanted Zaine to answer for fans and aspiring players was: What advice would he give to new and aspiring players? Zaine simply said when questioned, “ Work hard, be patient. It’s a process not a race. Enjoy it and keep going. And be a good person!”.
By Frankie Notaro