ORONO, Maine — Being the younger sibling of a star player in the same sport can be challenging.
But University of Maine senior left wing Taylor Makar, the younger brother of Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, said it hasn’t put any additional pressure on him.
“Not at all. We’re different players,” said Taylor Makar. Despite having different roles on the ice, he said he still learned a lot from his older brother.
“He’s not the type of kid who gets fazed by that type of stuff,” said UMaine head coach Ben Barr. “He is mentally strong. You won’t find a family that understands the big picture of things better than [the Makars].”
Cale Makar was at the University of Massachusetts when he won the Hobey Baker Award, given to the nation’s top Division I player.
The fourth overall pick in the first round of the 2017 NHL draft by the Colorado Avalanche has since gone on to win the Calder Memorial Trophy, which goes to the NHL’s Rookie of the Year, and the Norris Trophy, which is given to the league’s top defenseman.
Taylor Makar, who followed his brother to UMass and spent three years there before transferring to UMaine this year, said his brother has been a “big role model.”
“We talk every day. It’s been great. He’s so mature. I’ve learned a lot of stuff from him,” said Taylor, who is two years and five months younger than Cale. “Little things on the ice, off the ice. How to take care of your body. He’s older than me and he knows a lot more. He’s a pro. So I always bounce things off of him.”
Even though his brother is a defenseman, Taylor said Cale plays with two of the best forwards in the NHL in Hart Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon along with Mikko Rantanen so “I always ask him things about that.”
“From a D-man’s perspective, things to do, moves I can make, stuff like that. It’s always different,” Makar said.
Makar made an immediate impact in his first game as a Black Bear, scoring two goals and assisting on another in the season-opening 6-0 win over American International College (Massachusetts).
He and linemates Nolan Renwick (2 goals, 2 assists) and right wing Ross Mitton (3 assists) combined for four goals and six assists.
He scored another goal in the 5-0 exhibition win over Army.
“It’s good to help the team. The biggest point is to continue. Our line is doing well. My linemates are awesome and we’re going to keep working. We are vocal with each other,” said the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Makar, who had 15 goals and 7 assists in 85 career games at UMass.
“Taylor is an unbelievable player,” said graduate student and co-captain Lynden Breen. “He has taken advantage of a new environment. It has allowed him to push his game to the next level. He plays Black Bear hockey to the standard we expect every night and what coach wants.”
Renwick said Makar is the “full package.
“He’s like a Swiss army knife. He can do it all. He’s big, strong, fast, physical. He can score, he plays well in the defensive zone. He gets better every day and part of that is his work ethic off the ice. He has good habits, a good routine and he takes really good care of his body and that’s translating over to success on the ice,” Renwick said.
“He is very open to constantly watching video and to constant coaching,” said Barr. “That’s not the case for everybody or for everybody all the time.”
Barr said Makar, who is UMaine’s only draft choice (seventh round, Colorado, 220th overall), hasn’t reached his full potential yet, “but he will keep getting better and I think he will reach it.”
Calgary, Alberta, native Makar said he loved his time at UMass “but I just needed a little change.”
He noted that he wants to “definitely be a three-zone player. I want to help the team in any situation. Just be a guy the team can rely on. A big power forward looking to play like that.”
The 1-0 Black Bears will entertain 1-0 Quinnipiac at 7 p.m. Friday and 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
It will be a battle of top 10 teams. Quinnipiac is rated seventh in one national poll and eighth in another while UMaine is ninth in one and 10th in the other.
Quinnipiac won the national title two years ago and came one win away from another trip to the Frozen Four last year, losing to Boston College, 5-4, in overtime in the Providence regional final.
Rand Pecknold’s Bobcats have been to the last five NCAA Tournaments and are 93-21-8 over the last three campaigns.
“It’s awesome to get a chance to play a team like that early every year,” said Barr. “They are always so detailed. They’re arguably one of the best, if not the best program, over the last five years along with Denver. It’s going to be a great test. They aren’t going to give us any time and space [with the puck]. We’re going to have to earn everything we get.”
