Weegar enjoys ovation, tribute in first game back in Calgary

CALGARY — The thundering ovation MacKenzie Weegar received Sunday night in his return to Calgary came as no surprise. He was one of the club’s most popular players during his four seasons with the Flames.

The only surprise was that it came in a 4-1 loss as the playoff-bound Utah Mammoth had been on a roll of late.

But Sunday’s setback will be long forgotten when Weegar’s former teammates are cleaning out their lockers at the Scotiabank Saddledome, and he’s lacing up his skates for his first post-season action since 2022 with the Florida Panthers.

“It’s gonna be an absolute blast,” said the Ottawa native. “Obviously, I got a little taste of the crowd here the last month and I think they’re ready to rock. We’re gonna be ready to rock. Ultimately, I made the decision to come over here for that reason — to get a chance and an opportunity to get in the playoffs and make some noise, so I can’t wait.”

The tribute to Weegar came during the first television timeout of the first period. Joining in the applause were players on both teams who loudly banged their sticks against the boards.

“That’s the market here. They love their hockey, they love their players, and if you just buy into the system and you work super hard every night, and you wear that jersey with a lot of pride, they’ll show it back to you,” said Weegar with a wide smile.

“So, that’s all I wanted to do when I was here, just wear that jersey with pride and give it all I got and I’m glad they noticed it and it goes both ways.”

The ovation came as no surprise to Ryan Huska.

“You expected it,” said the Flames bench boss. “There’s certain guys that come back and they get the Bronx cheer and stuff like that, but Mackenzie was such a big personality in the community as well, that everybody knew who Mackenzie was, so it was nice to see him get the ovation that he did get from the crowd.”

About to miss the post-season for a fourth season in a row, Calgary traded Weegar on March 4 in exchange for veteran defenceman Olli Maatta, Cornell University centre Jonathan Castagna, who has since signed with Calgary, and three 2026 second-round draft picks.

Weegear, 32, waived his no-trade clause to consummate the deal.

“Maybe a few nerves here and there, but nothing crazy,” said Weegar, who came to Calgary in July 2022 with Jonathan Huberdeau in the trade for Matthew Tkachuk. “I was more excited just to see the guys in warm-up and, obviously their antics, it didn’t surprise me at all.”

While being interviewed on TV, former teammates Blake Coleman, Mikael Backlund, and Matt Coronato started peppering their old teammate with pucks.

“They were shooting pucks at me right away,” said Weegar with a chuckle. “Colesy, Backs, Matty, I felt like I got more blocked shots in the warm-up than I did all season.”

Utah has locked up a spot in the post-season, but which wild-card spot is still to be determined..

The Mammoth currently hold down the top spot with two games to go. The Los Angeles Kings are three points back with three games remaining.

As they attempt to get back to their winning ways – Utah had won five straight before dropping consecutive games this weekend – their final two games are at home against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday and the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.

Down 2-0 after 20 minutes and being outshot 14-4, the Mammoth had a chance to get back in the game early in the second when they went on the power play.

Weegar had the best chance when a lane opened up in front of him and he carried the puck in from the blueline, only to be denied on a glove stop from Dustin Wolf.

“I’ll sleep on that one, for sure. I feel like I’m thinking about it right now,” said Weegar. “I could have got him in a couple different areas, but he played great tonight. I’ll give him credit.”

Wolf knew exactly who he was staring down in that pivotal moment in the game.

“He’s a class act and was such a good buddy of mine for the years I was here,” said Wolf. “He was a guy you hate to see go, but it was nice to get the first leg up on him with the nice glove save.”

Did he know what was coming from facing him countless times in practice?

“That was the Weegar I know,” Wolf said with a wry smile. “He tries to fool me, but he needs to try a little harder.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 13, 2026.