Cale Douglas Makar is a Canadian ice hockey defenseman for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL), an organization of ice hockey clubs in Canada and the United States. In his 23 years, he has won the Stanley Cup, the Norris Trophy and the Conn Smythe Trophy. He is often referred to as one of the best defensemen and players in the NHL. Makar’s list of accomplishments has already made history. Learn more about his sports career at icalgary.
The beginning of his hockey career
Makar was born on October 30, 1998, in Calgary. He is of Ukrainian descent on his father’s side. He was named after a former NHL player, Cale Hulse.
In one of his interviews, Cale revealed that he looked up to Canadian hockey player Bobby Orr as a role model when he was a kid. Throughout Makar’s career, his accomplishments were often compared to those of Orr.
Bobby Orr
Cale began his hockey career with the Crowchild Blackhawks program before moving on to Northwest Calgary Athletic Association (NWCAA) Bruins in 2011. Later in his career, he was a member of the Calgary Flames and the NWCAA Stampeders. He later returned to the Calgary Flames, where he led the team and was named the team’s Most Valuable Player in the 2014–15 season. Cale joined the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) to maintain his NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) eligibility. The player helped the club in reaching the finals and finished third in scoring among all defenders. Cale was just 17 years old and had already established himself as an outstanding defender, scoring 55 points in 54 games during the 2015-16 season.
After all, Cale played his part in helping the Brooks Bandits become a championship contender in the AJHL. The defenseman was named AJHL and CJHL Rookie of the Year at the end of the season, as well as Western Canada Cup Top Defenceman and RBC Cup Top Defenceman, Top Scorer as well as Most Valuable Player.
New success
In the 2016-17 season, Cale Makar continued hitting new heights. With 75 points in 54 games, he finished sixth among AJHL skaters. Cale Makar helped the Brooks Bandits become AJHL champions for the second straight time while also finishing 2nd in the Royal Bank Cup. Makar was named the RBC Cup Top Defenceman and Most Valuable Player. Once again, the player won several awards that season.
Such a meteoric rise prompted the NHL to rank him as the top prospect and one of the best defensemen of 2017. The Canadian media described him as a dynamic skater who creates a flawless offense anytime he is on the ice. Cale became the most popular player to come straight out of the AJHL.
International games
Back in 2015-16, Makar was selected to compete for Team Canada West in the World Junior A Challenge, an annual international youth under-20 hockey tournament sponsored by Hockey Canada, the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
Cale was instrumental in helping the Canada West team win gold in 2015. After failing to capture a gold medal the following year, he set a tournament record for the most points ever scored by a defenseman.
Cale also played for the Canadian team at the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Michigan. Makar scored his only goal in the keynote on August 4, 2017, during a match against Sweden. That got the Canadians fired up and they scored three more goals and won.
Furthermore, Makar was selected to the Canadian National Team (Under-20) for the 2018 World Junior Championships in Buffalo, NY. There the hockey player successfully asserted himself, winning a gold medal. He ended the tournament in first place among all defensemen and was the only Canadian named to the All-Tournament team.
Afterward, Cale was invited to join the senior Canadian team for the 2018 Winter Olympics but rejected it to focus on playing for his university.
University team
After enrolling at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (USA), Cale immediately joined the university’s hockey team for the 2017-18 season. Makar won his first point within the university walls on October 6, 2017. During that time, he improved his game significantly. The hockey player was 5th on the team in scoring, totaling 21 points in 34 games.
Following the season, he decided to further develop on the university team. Over the 2018-19 season, Cale was selected to the Hockey East First All-Star Team and recognized as a Hobey Baker Award finalist.
Joining the Colorado Avalanche
On April 14, 2019, Makar went on to sign a three-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche. The first goal of his NHL career came in a game against the Calgary Flames.
Here he scored some significant victories. He was named the Avalanche’s Third Star of the Week for the week of November 10, becoming the team’s first rookie to do so. The player became the Avalanches second defenseman to score 18 points in 18 games on November 12, 2019, in a game against the Winnipeg Jets.
However, record after record couldn’t go unscathed by his health, as Cale received an upper-body injury during a game against the Boston Bruins on December 7, 2019. Twenty days later, Makar was back on the ice. On January 18, 2020, he set a new record in the history of the Avalanche, scoring his 11th goal of the season.
The player was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy for his outstanding performance in 2019–20. This award is given to the NHL season’s best rookie.
It should be noted that the Colorado Avalanche is based in the American city of Denver, Colorado. The team is a part of the NHL’s Central Division in the Western Conference.
The team was founded in 1972 under the name Quebec Nordiques. It was one of the chartered franchises of the World Hockey Association back then. In 1979, the franchise joined the NHL following the merger of the NHL and WHA. After the 1994-95 season, they were bought out by COMSAT Entertainment Group, at which point the team moved to Denver.
Norris and Conn Smythe trophies, Stanley Cup
The player signed a six-year, $54 million deal with the Avalanche in July 2021. On October 28, during a match against the St. Louis Blues, he scored 2 points and had a total of 100 points scored in 108 games.
Cale ended up the season with 28 goals, marking the best total for an NHL defenseman since Canadian Brent Burns during the 2016-17 season. That’s when the player was awarded the James Norris Memorial Trophy and became the first Avalanche defenseman to accomplish it.
The Avalanche finished 1st in the Western Conference and 2nd overall in the NHL and advanced to the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. There, the player scored 10 points in four games, once again setting his record for the most points scored by a defenseman in the first four postseason games.
Cale Makar with the Stanley Cup
The player completed the playoffs with 29 points. It was the fourth-highest total for a defenseman in a single postseason in league history. He was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason’s most valuable player. Cale Makar became the third defender in history to win both the Norris and Conn Smythe Trophies within the same season.
In the first 17 games of the 2022-23 season, he managed 20 points. That was already the 200th point of his career. Makar scored these 200 points in 195 games. That’s the fastest rate of any defenseman in the history of the NHL.
So, Cale Makar is a Canadian sports legend with Ukrainian ancestry. Makar’s game seems like something beyond imagination. He is more graceful and powerful than any of his adversaries. He is a player who has no equal.